Cox Foundation donates $2.1 million to urban farming initiative

Bolling said they’ve found that community gardens and farmers markets are strengthening people’s bonds with their neighbors, while also teaching children about where their food comes from.

By Katherine Landergan,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sept 5, 2022

Excerpt:

The James M. Cox Foundation on Monday announced a $2.1 million donation to an a nonprofit that supports community gardens and urban farms in the Atlanta metro area.

That nonprofit, the Food Well Alliance, has supported growers at 195 gardens and farms in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties. The nonprofit was started in 2015 by James M. Cox Foundation Chairman Jim Kennedy and Atlanta Community Food Bank Founder Bill Bolling. Since then, the nonprofit has raised $21.3 million, $16.7 million of which has come from the Cox Foundation.

“Food Well Alliance is connecting growers, gardeners and farmers who provide locally grown food to the people in their communities,” Kennedy said in a statement. “We are proud to support their efforts.”

The Cox Foundation is one of the philanthropic entities of Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The interest in urban agriculture has only increased during the pandemic, according to the Food Well Alliance. Locally grown food is one way to offset rising food costs. Since 2015, Food Well Alliance has helped 150 community gardens, 45 urban farms and 50 local food organizations. An urban farm is typically only a few acres of land, used to grow crops to sell, Bolling said.

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