Rod Olson is a Small Plot Intensive Farmer in Calgary Alberta. Rod talks about how he and Chad Kile began Leaf and Lyre Urban Farms in 2010 as the first SPIN Farming operation in Calgary. He describes how their version of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) works. He discusses the economics of SPIN Farming. As the pioneer SPIN Farming operation in Calgary, Rod Olson and Chad Kile co-operate with other SPIN farmers to market and process their food together (YYC Metro Growers). And he makes the case for the social entrepreneurship side of local food and urban agriculture. As Calgary's innovators in blazing the trail for urban farming, Rod and Chad are the quiet advocates for a new mode of farming.
Rod Olson was interviewed by the Alberta Land-use Knowledge Network as part of their online course and discussion of Urban Agriculture and Local Food in the autumn of 2013. The course, Growing Insights can be viewed at http://growinginsights.ca/
