COVID19 Response Update: 5/14/2020

Photo taken by Caleb Jones at Truly Living Well Collegetown Farm.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Food Well Alliance has cancelled all events and convenings until June 1, 2020. During this time we are focusing our attention on allocating critical resources to our farm and garden partners and creating virtual experiences for metro Atlanta residents who want to remain engaged in the local food community. This blog will be updated with new resources and developments on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also tune into our Instagram Live Stream on Friday at 1 pm for a recap and interviews with farmers and local food organizations.

Community Garden Support

It’s been a big week for Community Gardens! On Monday, we delivered 1,710 seedlings to 29 gardens across metro Atlanta. We continued to prep garden plots, thanks to Khari Diop of Think Green. Be on the lookout for a complete recap of our efforts over the last eight weeks!

In support of gardeners, we also launched a new video series called Monday Morning Gardener with Fred and Flannery, our in-house garden team. We’ll be answering three gardening questions each week, so feel free to submit your question on social media! Here is the first episode:

Compost and Labor for Farms

We facilitated the delivery of compost to ten urban farms, with an additional five deliveries scheduled for next week. Additionally, we supported two more farms with labor stipends to help them prepare for summer. Lastly, Small Farmer at Large Chris Theal has been hard at work again. He supported Mena’s Farm and Patchwork City Farm with his heavy machinery to create new garden beds, move mulch piles, and turn compost.

School Gardens Update

In partnership with Captain Planet Foundation, we will be bringing dormant land back to life at 35 school gardens in Atlanta, South Fulton, and Dekalb -- we'll provide compost, seedlings, labor support, and irrigation for five raised beds -- up to 200 square feet of growing space at each garden. Today, we ordered 1,000 sweet potato slips for planting!

Farmer Fund Update

Applications for the Farmer Fund closed on May 10. Decisions about grant awards will be made by May 20 with a goal of putting checks in the mail by May 24.