LOCAL FOOD& ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Generating a Robust Local Food Economy
A sustainable local food economy is driven by healthy production on thriving farms and markets that provide equitable access to affordable, fresh, locally grown food.

At the root of the local food economy are thriving, sustainable farmers, living in proximity to their urban neighbors and often in low-resourced communities. These farmers are not only a source of fresh food, they also provide innovation for solving our biggest urban food security challenges. They help improve health, protect the environment, generate community wealth and address historical inequities around access.

KEY INDICATORS

Click an icon to see a snapshot of how Metro Atlanta’s local food businesses are creating economic value.

Urban farmers are generating revenue by selling local produce to full-service restaurants, food box programs, retailers, and grocery stores. However, there is still more work to do. You can help grow the local food economy and continue driving the demand for local by using your purchasing power to support local. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, for every $100 spent at the farmers market, $62 stays within our local economy, and $99 stays in the state.

Food processing turns local produce into cooked, dried, bagged or bottled food products. Companies like PREP and the University of Georgia’s Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center provide commercial production kitchen space and refrigeration which makes it possible for local food micro-businesses to launch new food products.

Some of Atlanta's most well-known brands got their start at PREP such as Refuge Coffee Company, 9 Mile Station, Bellina Alimentari, Queen of Cream, Homespun ATL, and Emerald City Bagels, to name a few.

PREP Contributed To:

• 110 locally produced food products
• 112 small food companies
• 40 food trucks launched
• Over 30 catering and prepared meal companies

Small, local farms and food businesses often struggle to serve institutions such as universities, hospitals, schools and restaurants. The Common Market Georgia and The Turnip Truck aggregate produce from these producers and distribute to these institutions.

Growing social enterprises like Compostwheels and companies like Southern Green Industries are providing consumers, businesses, and institutions with ways to divert food waste from landfills and turn that food waste into compost for our urban farms and community gardens.

All of us in Atlanta are consumers, whether we are buying local food at farmers markets, preparing meals at home or eating it at local restaurants. Much of the growing demand for local food is driven by consumer concerns about health, animal welfare and social justice.

These statistics are indicators of the growing demand we can take advantage of:

• U.S. local food sales were approx. $12 billion in 2014, with an expected growth rate of 67% over five years with projected sales of $20 billion in 2019.

• 68% of consumers are more likely to visit a restaurant that offers locally produced food items, according to the National Restaurant Association.

• 1,600 professional chefs surveyed indicated that locally sourced protein and produce are the top three menu trends in 2016.

Fresh Harvest's
RESPONSIBLE GROWTH

Fresh Harvest is a subscription food delivery service making it quick and easy for families in Atlanta to get fresh, sustainably grown produce from local farms. Through partnerships with 24 Georgia-based organic farmers and food suppliers, the Clarkston-based Fresh Harvest delivers baskets filled with produce and artisan items every week to homes and businesses in the Metro Atlanta area.

*Photo Credit: Luisa Hammett

Since its launch in 2012, Fresh Harvest’s mission has been supporting local farmers by making healthy eating convenient and automated for its customers. Co-founder Zac Harrison adds, “We want to support our city and have the food that’s grown here, stay here.”

In 2016, Fresh Harvest purchased $685,000 in food from local farmers and artisans and prides itself on its “responsive supply chain,” sourcing from local farmers based on their seasonal availability. The company also recently started sourcing from its own Fresh Harvest Garden, which sold 1,074 pounds of produce in 2016, including diverse foods such as Ethiopian kale and New Zealand spinach. The garden serves as a community gathering space for dinners and cooking demonstrations and will expand production from an eighth of an acre to two acres in 2017, thanks to a grant from the Food Well Alliance.

Fresh Harvest was founded not only to be a profitable business, but also to provide community employment. The company plans to grow its 18-member staff, of whom nine are from Clarkston’s refugee community.

Hiring local refugees is foundational to Fresh Harvest’s social enterprise approach. Refugee employees contribute agricultural skills to the garden. They also help manage a new farmers market for residents at the Willow Branch Apartments in Clarkston. One of the things that excites Harrison the most about Fresh Harvest is its role in the local food system. Farmers are saying, “How much can we grow for you guys? Is there anything we could grow that would be better for your customers?” To Harrison that means “the buying power of the Fresh Harvest customer can influence what local farmers are growing.” It also means that Fresh Harvest is successfully cultivating the supply and demand of local food.

Leaders Impacting Economic Development

Mario Cambardella, Director of Urban Agriculture

Mario Cambardella, Director Urban Agriculture

City of Atlanta’s Urban Agriculture team is working on an urban agriculture allotment program, where vacant, city-owned properties will be made available to growers for growing food.

Alice Rolls, Executive Director

Georgia Organics is advancing farmer prosperity by helping farmers stay healthy, remain in their chosen profession, and continue to support the growth of the local food system.

*Photo Credit: Lizzy Johnston

Farmer P and Lovey Gilliam, Gilliam's Community Garden

Prentiss “Farmer P” and Jasann “Lovey” Gilliam, Co-founders / Farmers

Gilliam’s Community Garden located in Oakland City of Southwest Atlanta is transforming cottage businesses into sustainable social enterprises. Both to restaurants and their low-income customers at multiple local farmers markets, Lovey and Farmer P offer certified organic vegetables year-round and eggs from their urban poultry flock.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Food Well Alliance wants to hear from urban farmers, local food entrepreneurs and distributors about challenges and opportunities to scale and increase access to locally grown food.
Here is what we have heard from the community so far:

CHALLENGES

What are your ideas for removing these barriers?

• Lack of political will to expand urban agriculture as one of the tools to increase local food access.

• Lack of access to food within one mile of residence, especially affordable fresh and healthy foods.

• High real estate costs for farm land and food businesses.

• Lack of adequate post-harvest handling resources such as cold storage, processing facilities, customer sourcing, market expansion.

• The cost of living in Metro Atlanta, is challenging for low-earning farms and food businesses.

• Insufficient supply of affordable, local compost for urban farmers.

OPPORTUNITIES

Imagine if we worked together to make this happen in Metro Atlanta:

• A local food economic development zone co-locating food businesses to foster business growth with technology and infrastructure and to drive greater efficiencies and profitability.

• Property tax incentives for local farming and food businesses helping to create jobs.

• Long-term leases or sale of vacant land to urban farmers and market gardens adding value to neighborhoods.

•Wide adoption of local food procurement policy by public and private institutions helping farmers diversify their markets and increase off-season sales.