Old Fourth Ward to Get a Four-Acre Farm

December 6,2010

From Creative Loafing
Posted by Thomas Wheatley

After months of searches and talks, Rashid Nuri, the operator of Truly Living Well Natural Urban Farms, has found a property in the heart of Atlanta where he can grow fresh fruits and vegetables for the masses. Nuri sends word via e-mail:

The historic Wheat Street Baptist Church is once again taking the lead in bringing growth and opportunity to the heart of Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. One of the nation's oldest African American Churches has leased four acres of inner city land to Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture (TLW) to build an organic vegetable garden. With the help of District 2 City Council Member Kwanza Hall and a generous investment by the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, TLW will soon bring fresh vegetables to an inner city community that has seen its share of glory and blight. The new garden site will be a market place and a training center for Atlanta citizens interested in urban agriculture. [...]

There is a growing movement in the US and around the world to grow organic foods where most people live, which is in cities. In an area of downtown Atlanta that is well known locally and around the world, the use of the currently vacant Wheat Street Garden property is an innovative way to promote forward thinking and nourish the people of Atlanta.

Atlanta City Councilmember Kwanza Hall played a leading role in making this new city farm possible. ”This is exciting news for the Old Fourth Ward”, he says. “Just three years after we brought together hundreds of community members for a year long master planning process, our vision of the neighborhood as a test bed of innovation for the city as a whole, is coming true.”

Nuri and other officials will break ground on the new farm at the corner of Hilliard and Old Wheat streets on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. Expect more details about the project, which is supported by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Arthur Blank Family Foundation.