Kat Moriarty shares how Atlanta’s community gardeners are helping feed food-insecure families through Food Well Alliance’s “Plant a Row for the Hungry.” With over 100,000 pounds donated last year, this grassroots effort is making a big impact.
When you are a person in need, you might find yourself going to food pantries, waiting in food lines — picking up whatever you can. Sometimes that means stocking up on overly processed and close-to-expiring food. Not at Our Giving Garden.
“I am a registered dietitian and food scientist by education I feel it is very important for people in need not only to be fed but to be fed well,” said Judy Byler, founder and CEO of Our Giving Garden.
Our Giving Garden is a 501(c)(3) educational farm and community garden. From fresh fruits and veggies to honey and eggs — whatever is grown is given back to families in need.
“It is no questions asked, open 24/7, no paperwork, you don’t have to prove anything to us, no proof of income, you don’t have to prove that you are a citizen, nothing. Just show up, it is for you,” said Matthew Doherty, program directior of Our Giving Garden.
With the start of the growing season comes a chance to give back. The Stone Mountain Community Garden planted produce Wednesday as part of the Plant a Row for the Hungry Program. The program takes extra spring harvests and donates them to community food banks to help feed thousands of food-insecure families.
Read MoreThe Food Well Alliance program has collaborated with the gardeners at the Stone Mountain Community Garden for their "Plant a Row" event.
Read MoreFood Well Alliance also did its share to keep growers growing, and to provide that food where it was needed. In 2020, the 5-year old nonprofit delivered seedlings, bulk compost and labor support to dozens of community gardens; deployed nearly 1,500 hours of labor support to urban farms; facilitated the distribution of more than 330,000 pounds of excess food donated by metro area gardeners; and helped to activate idle school gardens to grow food for families in need.
Read MoreWhen the pandemic turned idle school gardens into weeds, robbed urban growers of income streams, and created long lines at food banks, two Atlanta nonprofits joined forces to fight back. The response is Project Giving Gardens, where urban growers are being paid to turn 102 metro-area school gardens into a harvest of vegetables that is going back into the community to feed families.
Read MoreWith the Project Giving Gardens program reinstated, over 100 community gardens will be prepared to become fully functioning mini-gardens under the direct supervision of some of the area’s most renowned urban farmers.
Read MoreFood Well Alliance: We are connecting organizations that are working to make metro Atlanta's local food system resilient, including production, processing, distribution, consumption and recovery.
The creation of Food Well Alliance was made possible through funding from the founding benefactor, the James M. Cox Foundation, and through the vision of Jim Kennedy, chair of Cox Enterprises, and Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Together, they saw an opportunity to build healthier communities across metro Atlanta by supporting and connecting members of our local food movement. Today, we support more than 300 community gardens, urban farms and orchards in the Atlanta region.
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