Land Acquisition Empowers Atlanta’s Largest Urban Farm to Establish Roots
ATLANTA, GA - Whether you’re a big company or a small one, there’s a universal feeling of accomplishment when you finally reach your goals. After more than ten years of working in the Atlanta community and programming on leased land, Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture is celebrating an accomplishment of its own as it now owns its Collegetown Farm at 324 Lawton Street in Atlanta.
“This is an incredible milestone for our organization,” said Carol Hunter, Executive Director of Truly Living Well. “Land ownership creates stability for the organization and permanency in a community that needs access to healthy food. We have the capacity to stimulate and contribute to a robust local food system from our location at Collegetown Farm and deliver other community benefits.”
The three-acre site features fertile ground to continue the organization's mission of educating children and adults to grow natural and organic food and producing thousands of pounds of fresh, healthy food for the Westside and Atlanta community.
As an African American and woman-led organization, Truly Living Well is committed to using urban agriculture as a transformative tool for health, wellness, education, and cooperative community opportunities.
“When I went to view the property, I was exhilarated by the possibility. Before us was an opportunity to own our own land—three-plus acres of flat land at the bottom of a hill, which we would initially lease, but eventually own,” Truly Living Well Founder and Former CEO K. Rashid Nuri said. “I couldn't be prouder that Collegetown Farm is my legacy for Truly Living Well.”
According to the release, Atlanta Housing offered Truly Living Well the site in 2015 when their lease was not renewed at Wheat Street Garden in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward.
Truly Living Well works in collaboration with many Atlanta-based organizations and has recently partnered with both Atlanta Botanical Garden and Westside Future Fund. Mary Pat Matheson, Executive Director of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, has witnessed first-hand Truly Living Well’s unique ability to connect neighbors to the land where their food is grown, whether they are buying fresh food at the market or learning how to grow it on the farm.
“To have the land permanently secured is remarkable,” said Matheson. “Truly Living Well is going to be there for the next 100+ years. We’ve now got a strong green urban anchor on the Westside committed to growing food for the community. Growing food in cities grows more resilient cities.”
Will we see more ag associations like Truly Living Well take root across the nation? AndNowUKnow will report.
