Grantee Profile: Sagdrina Jalal of Georgia Farmers Market Association

Sagdrina Jalal is the founding Executive Director of the Georgia Farmers Market Association, a statewide organization led by farmers, farmers market managers and other local food advocates. GFMA seeks to support communities in growing healthy local food systems and foster pathways to equitable food access.

Do you work with local food? Check out our 2019 grant opportunities.

GFMA’s mission is deeply personal to Sagdrina. In addition to fighting through her own health challenges, she witnessed her father succumb to Leukemia due to his exposure to Agent Orange. Sagdrina is fully committed to the healing power of clean, local food.

“I feel blessed to be able to share what I’ve learned to help others across our state define what a healthy community is to them,” Sagdrina said.

Sagdrina attributes her participation in the 2016 Food Innovation Fellowship program as a catalyst in the launch of  Fresh Stop Markets in Georgia, a model for increasing local food access rooted in equity and value for farmers. Through the Local Food Grant, GFMA has been able to pilot and implement methods for making farmers markets more accessible and representative of the communities where they exist, for both shoppers and vendors.

You can keep up with their work by visiting www.mygeorgiamarket.org, and be sure to find your local market while you’re there.