Atlanta’s local food system is integral to holistic growth, equity, and vibrancy. Maybe you understand that it’s worth an investment of your time and resources… but how?
We’ve outlined a few steps to help you find your place in local food.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
buy local food• Grow your own food at home, collect your food scraps at home for compost production, and join a community garden in your neighborhood.
GROW LOCAL FOODThis baseline report is not the end of the story. We want to collaborate with the community to continue to grow the future of local food. Share your stories & data with us here!
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