What's Happening At Food Well Alliance - August, 2020
/Welcome to our monthly blog, keeping you in the loop about what we’ve been working on and what’s coming next. Check back each month for updates or sign up to receive quarterly newsletter updates here. If you have any questions about the content written here, please email info@foodwellalliance.org.
Kim Karris with Lovey Gilliam
Saying Goodbye to our Leader, Kim Karris
This week, we say farewell to Kim Karris as Executive Director of Food Well Alliance. Kim started with Food Well Alliance at the very beginning of the organization in 2015, and has seen Food Well Alliance through thick and thin. Originally serving as Grants & Community Capital Manager, Kim became Executive Director in February, 2018. In that role, Kim reimagined what we could be -- forming a Resource Center to directly address the needs of growers, launching a Policy and Advocacy program which included metro Atlanta's first-ever City Agriculture Planning initiative, and quickly mobilizing our teams to respond to COVID-19.
Other highlights include:
Investing $4 million into 200 innovative and impactful community gardens, urban farms, and local food enterprises that are transforming lives and rebuilding the social, ecological, and nutritional health of their neighborhoods
Implementing our region’s first City Agriculture Planning process in the City of East Point, in partnership with the Atlanta Regional Commission, that has set a new precedent and will equip cities across metro Atlanta with the tools they need to incorporate favorable policies that prioritize gardens and farms in this age of rapid redevelopment and gentrification
Conceiving and executing metro Atlanta’s largest on-farm festival — Soil Festival — that brought thousands of people together at Truly Living Well's Collegetown Farm to celebrate soil as the source of healthy food and healthy communities
Kim, you will always be a part of the Alliance. We look forward to seeing where life takes you next, and what impact you will have on the world in the next phase of your journey.
Read Kim's full letter to the Alliance.
GrowHer Was a Hit!
GrowHer was a 3-day health and wellness experience hosted by BIPOC women-led gardens and farms around Atlanta — including Eva Dickerson of Thomasville Heights Elementary, Renee Booker of Mableton Community Garden, and Andrea Searles of Austell Community Garden — designed to encourage intergenerational connection between women growers of color. GrowHers were able to attend in person or virtually to learn growing techniques and build community with neighbors and friends.
Engaging Gardeners With Pots & Pops
In partnership with Historic Westside Gardens and Mokipops -- with a special musical appearance from DJ Cam Christian of Plantlanta -- we gave away kale plants and delicious popsicles in a drive through garden party for new growers! The kale seedlings were grown by Rosario Hernandez of HWG and given to home gardeners along with a plant care guide. Thanks to everyone who came by!
Seeds of Resilience Video Series Coming Soon
Our mission to increase the viability of Atlanta’s community gardens and farms requires us to be reflective and responsive to the experiences of the growers leading this work. At Food Well Alliance, we’ve learned again and again about the value of cooperative learning. We hope our upcoming Seeds of Resilience video series encourages more opportunities to widen our perspectives, examine socio-historical impacts, exchange generational wisdom, and deepen our understanding of the investments Black agrarians make into building healthier communities.
Black August Urban Farm Bike Tour
Presented by Red, Bike and Green-Atlanta, the Black August Urban Farm Bike Tour will commemorate Black August by uplifting the physical, mental, and economic health of Black urban cyclists and their allies. Participants will safely traverse the historical streets of the West End, Ashview Heights, College Town and Oakland City. Taking in the sights and energy of the community, participants will have opportunities to hear from local growers, business people and community members about the positive impact Black growers and farms have had on the neighborhoods, its people and the city at large.
Not only will participants have story time with local growers, there will be opportunities to walk the land, taste the bounty and smell the black gold (soil). Participants will learn the foodways created by Black urban farmers that contribute to community enhancement, but also the challenges they have overcome to thrive and be self-determining resources.
