Alpharetta Council Members voted recently to officially adopt a City Agriculture Plan. Food Well Alliance and the Atlanta Regional Commission selected Alpharetta as the second metro city to develop such a plan and helped guide the city through the process. Food Well Alliance will provide $75,000 in funding. The city will match those funds to help bring the plan to life.

After nearly a year of community meetings and planning, the Alpharetta City Council has approved a comprehensive plan to guide and encourage agricultural development in the city over the next five years.

The City of Alpharetta officially adopted their City Agriculture Plan on Monday December 12th. The comprehensive Plan was formulated over the year, with input from hundreds of residents who attended a half dozen meetings to brainstorm ideas of what a healthy and vibrant local food system could look like and how to achieve that. 

While even some locals may find it hard to picture, the city of Alpharetta was once a small agrarian community. Though its population has grown more than twentyfold over the past four decades, the city is now seeking to return to its locally-grown roots by promoting fresh, sustainable community agriculture.

Alpharetta is creating an agricultural master plan for growing healthy sustainable foods that could eventually be woven into city development. The plan has $150,000 in initial funding and will be approached similar to a master plan for economic development or recreation and parks, Amanda Musilli, Alpharetta community services manager said.

With the help of Food Well Alliance and the Atlanta Regional Commission, the City of Alpharetta will develop the next City Agriculture Plan. The plan will help create sustainable food systems in Alpharetta and in early spring, the city will seek input from residents during the community engagement phase.