Robert was born and raised on Madison’s South side. He started his own practice of urban agriculture in 1984 known as Half the 40 Acres Farm. Robert recalled his initial steps saying, “It started off as something for myself [with] health benefits because of the allergies I had contracted after Vietnam. I was also at a business college at the time too. And I decided at that point that I wanted to become an organic farmer”.

His motivation was to produce healthy food for himself and his family. Over time his goal has expanded to ensuring access to safe, affordable, and healthy food for the low-income and multi-ethnic South Madison community. Robert was a vendor at the Dane County Farmers Market in [_____]. As the only Black farmer, he experienced racism and decided to move his business to South Madison and became a vendor at the South Madison Farmers Market in 2002. A year later, he became the Market Manager and has continued that role ever since.