By: MADDIE GINSBERG, Lake Voice
From a circus in France to an urban farm in Duluth, Francois Medion has led an exciting life.
As the farm manager for the Duluth Grill’s urban farm, Medion oversees all of the daily tasks that it takes to keep the farm up and running.
Five years ago, Tom Hanson, the owner of the Duluth Grill, decided to start an urban farm in his backyard. Medion has been with the project ever since.
The project has now grown to two backyards and there are hopes to expand it even more. The the best part about working there for Medion is having the chance for trial and error.
"We are able to start projects and see where we can go with them," Medion said.
Francois came to the United States in 1983, after being in between jobs at a circus. He got a job with an American circus that was touring around France. And when they decided to go back to the U.S., Francois joined them.
“I was doing a little bit of acting and was also a sound engineer,” Medion said. “When I got to New York, I met the woman who became my wife and I started working in the restaurant industry.”
Medion enjoyed New York, but there was not enough green space for him.
“I grew up on a farm. It was oppressing for me, I was making a good living there, but I needed nature," Medion said.
Medion loved nature so much that he would walk around trying to find plants that people had thrown out.
“Companies would get new plants for their offices every few years, so I would take the ones they threw away," Medion said.
Pretty soon, the apartment that Medion owned was filled with plant-life. When Medion and his wife decided to move, they loaded up a truck with all of their plants and headed to Minneapolis. Francois found that Minneapolis was better than New York in the sense of green space, but again, Medion felt that he needed more. That is when he decided to come to Duluth.