MILWAUKEE &#8212 Will Allen is on a mission to get city dwellers to return to the soil and reap the benefits of urban farming.

Allen began Growing Power Inc., a nonprofit organization in north Milwaukee, when he transformed a former garden center into an urban vegetable farm. He works with youth groups, schools, churches and anyone else interested in learning how community gardens can change people for the better.

Urban farming, he said, leads to healthier communities.

“It’s all about the soil,” he said of the high nutrient compost the organization makes. “If you grow soil, then you can grow healthy food.”

Growing Power will host a national conference Wednesday through Saturday for beginning and small-scale farmers.

Allen, 58, said the event boosts Milwaukee as a “Mecca for food system work” and provides good news for a city that has been known for poverty, unemployment and crime.

The conference, titled “Risk Management Strategies for Beginning and Small Farmers and Ranchers,” was arranged with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency.

Bill Buchanan, director of civil rights and community outreach for the RMA, said Allen’s group was a natural choice for the event.

“Not only is Will very well-known nationwide and internationally, he creates a lot of innovative programs that can be done on small plots of land,” he said. “And also he’s willing to share his knowledge with anyone who wants it.”