How to Use the Baseline Report

No matter who you are, everyone has a role to play! Find your place and read about actions you can take to ensure Metro Atlanta is an inclusive, resilient city that’s proud of its sustainable, local food system:

If you are an Urban Farmer, you can work with both your neighborhood partners and national organizations to help track how much local food is being sustainably produced for Atlantans.

Recommendations for Urban Farmers:

• Sign up for the U.S.D.A Census of Agriculture. This is a powerful way Atlanta growers can demonstrate the value and importance of urban agriculture and influence national policy decisions.

• Know your neighborhood. Collaborate with nearby organizations who seek to leverage the farm as a way to educate, engage, and empower the community to consume more sustainably-grown, local vegetables and fruits.

• Join the Food Well Alliance mailing list to connect with local food entrepreneurs, investors, and organizations that support your work.

If you are a Local Food Entrepreneurs, consider working to develop socially inclusive business models with the aim of solving food access and local food system challenges

Recommendations for Local Food Entrepreneurs:

• Establish direct relationships with local urban farmers or local food distributors and incorporate local food sourcing plans, seasonal menu planning, and food waste recovery that work logistically and financially for both the farmer and food business.

• Partner with organizations that double SNAP purchases of local food or implement strategies to make your products accessible to consumers of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

• Learn how you can support the Atlanta’s Local Food Movement through collaborative initiatives like the Compost Design Table, or attend a Local Food Forum.

If you are an Educator, you can teach Atlantans how to play a part in our local food system.

Recommendations for Local Food Educators:

• Explore and implement best practices, learning tools, and curriculum that incorporate garden-based and local food system education into your teaching.

• Offer sustainable urban agriculture training programs that include cultivation, sustainability, and business development to prepare future urban growers and local food entrepreneurs to succeed.

• Attend a Local Food Forum, to learn more about the work being done in Atlanta’s Local Food Movement.

If you are a Community Partner, you can leverage locally-grown food as a tool to strengthen the community in which you work and live.

Recommendations for Community Partners:

• Forge direct partnerships with urban growers, farmers markets, and community gardens as hubs to build community, improve health, and connect people of all ages to local food.

• Employ inclusive and equitable strategies that ensure that locally-grown food is accessible to the communities you serve.

• Join the Food Well Alliance mailing list to collaborate with others in the movement and to help elevate Atlanta’s local food system.

As a Policy Maker, you can create a forward-thinking policy environment for Metro Atlanta’s local food system to thrive.

Recommendations for Food Policy Makers:

• Remove barriers to urban growing and local compost production through urban agriculture tax credits, creative land and water use policies, favorable zoning and building codes, municipal food waste recovery programs, and environmentally-sustainable practices and policies.

• Invest resources into local food access by providing public spaces and personnel to operate neighborhood farmers markets and by supporting programs that make access to healthy local food possible, such as SNAP and WIC programs.

As an Investor, you can fund organizations that strengthen the local food movement.

Recommendations for Investors:

• Provide funding opportunities and make impact investments that are specifically designated for and accessible to urban growers, community-based organizations, and businesses working in Atlanta’s local food system.

• Direct funding that encourages innovation, while supporting collaboration and inclusive growth among all types of organizations working in the local food system.

As a Consumer, you play a critical role in supporting the future of Metro Atlanta communities through local food. Consider spending your dollars on local food and reconnect with where your food comes from

• Purchase fruits, vegetables, and local food products directly from urban farmers and producers at neighborhood farmers markets and on-farm market stands, join a local farmer’s community supported agriculture (CSA) program, and eat at restaurants that commit to making direct relationships with urban farmers core to their menu and business.

• Grow your own food at home, collect your food scraps at home for compost production, and join a community garden in your neighborhood.