Food Well Alliance is a collaborative network of local leaders working together to build thriving community gardens and urban farms.
Our mission is to provide resources and support to local growers to connect and build healthier communities. Our vision is for an equitable, local food ecosystem in which everyone can participate and benefit.
In 2015, Jim Kennedy, chair of Cox Enterprises, and Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, had an idea to build healthier communities across metro Atlanta by connecting and supporting members of our local food movement. Food Well Alliance exists to bring this vision to life. Today, we support more than 300 community gardens, urban farms and orchards in metro Atlanta.
Since 2015, Food Well Alliance has engaged thousands of people annually around the issues of local food and has provided more than $6 million in direct resources to local growers across our 5-county service area. We have turned farmers into entrepreneurs, community gardeners into vocal neighborhood leaders, and citizens into champions for healthy soil.
Food Well Alliance accomplishes its work through two primary program areas:
Resource Center
We provide centralized resources to build a supportive ecosystem for thriving community gardens and urban farms. We accomplish this work through 5 areas of support: Knowledge (e.g. trainings and workshops), Volunteer and Labor Support, Compost, Tools & Equipment, and Capacity Building Grants (for urban farms, community gardens, and community food organizations).
Policy & Planning
We bring local government leaders together with community and local food leaders to develop plans that bring urban agriculture into city planning processes similar to a housing or transportation plan. We accomplish this work primarily through our City Agriculture Planning, in partnership with the Atlanta Regional Commission. We are currently focused on implementing the region’s first ever City Agriculture Plan in the City of East Point and taking steps to launch the next metro Atlanta city to participate in City Agriculture Planning.
