What's Happening At Food Well Alliance - September, 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.
Seeds of Resilience Available In Full
Produced by the creatives at OFFTHARECORD, Seeds of Resilience is a series of videos that each provide a unique glimpse into the lives of some very special growers. Through this series, we aim to deepen our understanding of the investments Black agrarians make into building healthier communities. It is our hope that these beautiful stories will be an opportunity to widen perspectives, examine history, and exchange generational wisdom.
The fourth and final installment debuted last Thursday at 7PM. Brother Reynaldo Holmes of Holmes Urban Homestead and Ras Kofi of Shamba Cultivating Ground share about the important work Black farmers in the South are doing to uplift and empower their communities. If you didn’t catch these stories, you can find the full series here.
Plant 2 Plate Wraps Up
This month, we partnered with our friends at Wholesome Wave Georgia to offer the Georgia Plant 2 Plate program, empowering SNAP recipients with the tools to successfully grow food at home.
Participants could simply swipe their EBT card to receive fruit and vegetable starter plants at 50% off. and earned a free gardening kit valued at $27 with a purchase of three starter plants.
As we wrap up another successful Plate 2 Plate season, we’d like to express our gratitude to Wholesome Wave Georgia and our host markets - Aluma Farm and Atlanta Harvest. Thanks also to Tito’s Handmade Vodka for donating hand sanitizer for our markets and garden kit supplies for SNAP customers - including soil, containers, trowel, gloves and plant care guides!
Community Gardens
Our Community Garden team is distributing Fall resources to Community Gardens - including vegetable seeds/cover crops - and working with Soil3 to deliver compost. At Tapestry, the garden managed by Food Well Alliance, we planted seedlings purchased from Dunwoody Community Garden, including swiss chard, mustard greens, kale and collards.
We also continue to provide small group volunteer workdays for gardens, as needed. Learn more about our volunteer program here. In accordance with CDC recommendations, and for the protection of staff and volunteers, we are requiring masks and social distancing.
Plant a Row for the Hungry - Update
During this time of unprecedented need, Food Well Alliance is stepping up our support for the Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign. So far, over 92,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables have already been donated to food pantries by community gardens, home gardeners, and local farmers in metro Atlanta!
Would you like to donate your extra produce for people in need? There's still time to get involved! Learn about drop-off locations and more at our Plant A Row webpage.
Partnership with Park Pride
In an effort to increase urban agriculture and local food access in public spaces, Food Well Alliance and Park Pride have partnered to support existing community gardens located in 22 parks across metro Atlanta. Food Well Alliance will provide garden infrastructure and technical assistance, while coordinating the legal and city-specific requirements for gardens located in public parks. We look forward to strengthening social networks among gardens and finding ways to both promote and amplify the value of gardens to our community’s ecological, nutritional and social health.
