Across the city of Atlanta, Georgia, many organizations are working to build a food system that centers community wellbeing with the health of the planet.
These organizations are supporting local food producers and regional economies, offering educational resources and agricultural training, and working to ensure that their neighbors don’t go hungry.
On April 14, Food Tank is heading to Atlanta to partner with Spelman College and Emory University for the Summit “Empowering Eaters: Access, Affordability, and Healthy Choices.” Held in support of the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the event will celebrate the city’s local food movement and uplift the health and wellbeing of future generations in policy.
Panels will explore food and land justice, healthier school food, student-led food systems research, food as medicine, and the power of procurement. Learn more about the Summit, which is free and open to the public, and register now by clicking HERE.
And check out some of the amazing changemakers working to transform the local food system in and around Atlanta.
1. Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund
The Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund is a multidisciplinary, cooperative nonprofit ecosystem that aims to regenerate custodial land ownership, ecological stewardship, and food and fiber economies in the American South. The Black Agrarian Fund helps to secure land for landless, returning generation farmers, while their Black Belt Justice Center serves as the fiscal sponsor for this work and is the lead organization for the Initiative and Fund.
2. Atlanta Community Food Bank
One in twelve people — and one in ten children — in the area served by the Atlanta Community Food Bank experience hunger. The Food Bank works with almost 700 community-based nonprofit partners to distribute more than 9 million meals across metro Atlanta and north Georgia every month. They also work with their partners to support school breakfast and summer feeding programs to ensure children have access to nutritious meals.
3. Community Farmers Markets (CFM)
Serving as an umbrella organization, CFM was established to meet the demand for more efficiently managed, community-based and sustainable farmers’ markets in Atlanta. They enable food distribution through their markets, organize educational programming and events, provide financial incentives to make fresh food more affordable, and offer resources to their vendors. CFM reports that in 2023, they served more than 65,000 in-person shoppers and over 160 vendors at weekly markets.
Co-Founded by Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Tamara Melton, Diversify Dietetic brings together students, professionals, and educators who are committed to creating opportunities to encourage a more diverse field of dietetics and nutrition. They do this through scholarships and grants, mentorship programs, application support, and educational resources.
5. Friends of the Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill
In 2016, The Conservation Fund, The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Resilience, and the Department of Parks & Recreation partnered with residents from the Browns Mill neighborhood to create an urban food forest in Atlanta. Friends of the Urban Food Forest was established to ensure the sustainability of the Forest with a community centered focus. The organizations’ programs work to eliminate hunger in the area, improve awareness of healthy behaviors, and provide career and training opportunities for adults and youth.
Food Well Alliance brings together leaders of the local food movement to support more than 300 community gardens, urban farms, and orchards in metro Atlanta. Through their Resource Center programming, the Alliance offers trainings and workshops; volunteer and labor support; compost, tools, and equipment; and capacity building grants. They also bring local government leaders together to develop plans that integrate urban agriculture into city planning processes.
7. Georgia Foundation for Agriculture
By developing a pipeline for the next generation of farmers and agriculture leaders, the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture strives to equip people with the tools and knowledge they need to preserve the future of farming. The organization reaches students, teachers, and farmers across the state. Through their programming, the Foundation offers an agricultural STEM curriculum for teachers to use in classrooms, agriculture scholarships, apprenticeship opportunities, and support for local producers to ensure their success.
Georgia Organics promotes the work of organic farmers across the state to support the health of communities and the planet. Through their farmer services program, the nonprofit provides small and organic farmers with training and resources to help them build and maintain strong agricultural businesses. And in their Farm to School initiatives, they engage children with local, healthy food in cafeterias and classrooms.
Giving Kitchen provides emergency financial support and community resources to food service workers in need. Those who meet the criteria can apply for monetary assistance from the network. And the Giving Kitchen’s Stability Network serves as a referral program that connects workers with social services. Their efforts reach workers in restaurants, catering, concessions, food trucks, cafeterias, bars, and taprooms.
10. Global Growers Network (GGN)
Working with a network of 175 families, many of whom are resettled refugees, GGN connects food producers to sustainable agriculture resources and quality farmland. They support 10 farm, community garden and orchard sites in DeKalb and Rockdale Counties, helping communities grow fresh, culturally familiar crops. In 2021, they acquired a 23-acre property that will offer a home to farmers who face barriers of access to land and capital.
Mariposas Rebeldes works to make community gardening, ecology, and cultural education more accessible for queer, trans, and intersex people. They offer community events centering food and sustainable land stewardship. The group envisions a space where members can grow food, cook meals, and share resources while following Indigenous land management principles.
Open Hand Atlanta distributes healthy meals to people in need, with the vision of eliminating diet-related chronic illnesses. The organization delivers meals directly to the homes of individuals in Atlanta and around the state of Georgia free of charge. They also operate a teaching kitchen, where they offer nutrition support programs.
13. Recovery Eco Agriculture Project
Recovery Eco Agriculture Project engages in education, research, and development work in support of sustainable and regenerative land use. These efforts encompass small scale farming, agroecology, agroforestry, and reforestation. They also offer horticultural therapy by providing accessible gardens for physically and developmentally disabled individuals. And they have children’s program that introduces young people to edible playground gardens.
14. Save Our Legacy Ourself (SOLO)
SOLO works to preserve the culture, heritage, and traditions of the Saltwater Geechee people. Through their agricultural program, the organization is incubating heirloom and heritage crops, which they plan to bring to market. They also operate a youth agricultural program to connect young people to the land and teach them about planting, harvesting, and preparing traditional foods.
A local chapter of Slow Food USA, Slow Food Atlanta works to realize good, fair, and clean food for all. The organization educates the broader community on opportunities to support local food culture, advocates for biodiversity and a sustainable relationship with food producers and brings attention to food and land justice. Slow Food Atlanta also has events throughout the year to engage and educate residents and build community.
Working in four regional hubs, The Common Market is a nonprofit food distributor connecting urban communities with local food grown on family farms. Common Market Southeast works with more than 30 producers in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee to distribute food to the Atlanta area and build more resilient supply chains .
17. The Grocery Spot
Founded in 2021, The Grocery Spot first opened as a for-profit grocery store to help the local community access high-quality and affordable food. After connecting with and learning from residents, however, they converted their model into a nonprofit grocery store. The Grocery Spot now operates as a community-funded free grocery store that is open to all, with no applications or appointments required.
18. Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture (TLW)
Since 2006, TLW has worked to demonstrate how food can serve as a bridge to connect people of different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. They have agriculture training, nutrition, education, and job creation programs. And the organization regularly grows and harvests produce to provide the local community with a consistent source of fresh food. Their farm sites in Metro Atlanta, intended to demonstrate the transformative power of agriculture, produce fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and other value-added products.
19. Umi Feeds
A food rescue nonprofit, Umi Feeds works to meet the needs of people who are facing food insecurity and unhoused by serving healthy, nutritious meals. They rescue surplus food from consumers, farmers, events, restaurants, and other food businesses then redistribute it in the form of their weekly mobile dinners. They also provide people in need access to personal care items, blankets, clothing, and sanitary products.
The organization operates under the belief that all Georgians should have access to healthy fresh, locally grown food. They work to increase access to and awareness of nutritious food options. Their programs also help residents enroll in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other benefits, match SNAP/EBT dollars at participating farmers markets, and connect households on SNAP with gardening kits.
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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
