Kristen Cascante

Food Well Alliance

Food Well Alliance is a collaborative network of local leaders working together to build thriving community gardens and urban farms across metro Atlanta. 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 120 community gardens and 35 urban farms in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton counties. Since 2015, Food Well Alliance has engaged thousands of people annually around the issues of local food and has provided more than $4 million in direct resources to nearly 200 farms, gardens and local food organizations 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: 1. 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). 2. 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.