20 Under 40: Richie Bloomfield

Meet Richie Bloomfield, 33, assistant professor at Huron University, co-founder of Urban Roots London and Sidetrack: A Wortley Café, and one of our 20 Under 40 Class of 2023 recipients

A FULL-TIME ASSISTANT professor at Huron University, Richie Bloomfiled is also co-founder of Urban Roots London, non-profit organization that revitalizes underused land in London for agriculture, as well as a partner in Sidetrack: A Wortley Café. A true investor in and optimist for the city, he is dedicated to improving access to good food, improving working conditions and sustainable practices in the food sectors and demonstrating to his students that it is possible — and desirable — to apply a business education to make a positive and meaningful impact in your community.

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What would you say is your biggest accomplishment?

Witnessing the community buy-in to the concept that all our neighbours deserve the dignity of access to — and the choice of — good food, not just what is leftover. This has been ­demonstrated in many ways, but perhaps most visibly when hundreds of Londoners helped Urban Roots acquire our main farm site at 21 Norlan Avenue. It was humbling and encouraging to see the commitment to meaningful food production and food access for the long-term.

Who, or what, has been your biggest influence in business?

Poet and novelist Wendell Berry wrote, “There are no sacred and unsacred places; there are only sacred and ­desecrated places.” There are many examples in our community of ­people who treat this land and those around them as sacred. Anyone who embodies this kind of care is inspiring to me.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self?

In my role as a professor, I find that young people are under a lot of pressure to hustle, chase, grind, network, et cetera, to build a successful career. It’s certainly a fair concern to think about post-graduation, and I too recall this anxiety, but this seems to have intensified lately. While the hustle culture may work for some, I like to remind students — and would tell my younger self — there’s no rush, and it’s worthwhile thinking about what meaningful things you want to do for your community, to seek opportunities to invest in that way and expect things may end up in a different place than you predicted.

What books have you recently read that really stuck with you?

Pastoral Song, A Farmer’s Journey by James Rebanks; Frontline Farmers by Annette Aurélie Desmarais; and The Divide by Jason Hickel.

If you weren’t working in your current field, what would you be doing?

Farming. Interview by Kieran Delamont