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ORAL HISTORY
Bob Randall
Urban Harvest Farmer's Market
A lifetime of experience has taught Dr. Bob Randall that “designing an organization is a lot like designing a landscape.” A food systems anthropologist, Peace Corps veteran and permaculture evangelist, in 1994 he planted the seeds for what would become Urban Harvest by calling a small meeting of Houstonians at a local restaurant. “We needed to have farmers markets. We needed to have classes for adults and for children. We needed to work in schools. We needed to teach children the value of nature.”
Guided by Randall’s principle that “everyone ought to have the chance to eat well,” over thirty years later Urban Harvest continues to diligently work towards achieving these goals. Retired from the organization since 2008, he argues their efforts have done more than simply improving food accessibility and awareness in Houston. “One of the things that permaculture does is try to get yields out of connections,” he says. “You might use the farmers market to tell people about classes we’re teaching, or to bring school children from a part of town that is not latte-sipping and have them present art projects at the market. Or you might bring in live music and support local musicians. In other words, you can make connections that strengthen community and teach people.
