Launch of 4-acre urban farm in Old Fourth Ward in neighborhood that raised Martin Luther King Jr.
K. Rashid Nuri. Photo by Joeff Davis.
Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture to break ground – Urban Farm in Old Fourth Ward
Old Fourth Ward is getting a neighborhood, organic vegetable garden on 4-acres leased from Wheat Street Baptist Church! The project will also be a marketplace and serve as a training center for budding urban gardeners.
With the help of District 2 City Councilmember Kwanza Hall and generous investments by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward will soon be the site of a new four-acre organic urban garden.
The historic Wheat Street Baptist Church, 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, which will also serve as a market place and training center for Atlantans interested in urban agriculture.
Officials will present a check and break ground on the new farm at the corner of Hilliard and Old Wheat streets at 2 p.m. Sunday, December 5. The community is invited to attend.
“This is a smart investment in our collective vision for the Old Fourth Ward,” Councilman Hall said. “Just three years ago, in 2007, hundreds of community members came together to envision the future of the neighborhood. We said that we wanted the Old Fourth Ward to be a center of innovation for the City as a whole. This is the kind of innovation that we welcome.”
Rev. Dr. Michael Neely Harris, Pastor of Wheat Street Baptist Church, noted his church?s longstanding support of entrepreneurialism. “Wheat Street Baptist Church has a historic tradition of being a part of feeding people,” he said, “starting with the food co-op founded by Rev. Hosea Williams and Rev. William H. Borders, Sr., who was my predecessor, which evolved into Hosea Feed The Children. This project continues that tradition and we are proud to be a part of it.”
Rashid Nuri is the founder of the Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture. He is a Harvard-educated agriculture specialist who has lived around the world working in agri-business. Five years ago he moved from the desk to the land and planted 3 organic garden sites around the City of Atlanta. The success of his work caught the eye of Councilman Hall, the EPA and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, which is dedicated to reducing childhood obesity and improving youth fitness.
“Food is a foundation of community life,” said Nuri. “The better the quality of our food, the stronger our community will become. We must make quality food affordable and easily accessible to people who live in our inner cities.”
2 comments
I used to live in the Old Fourth Ward – man, what news!
Neighbors were buzzing when it first came to light and given the O4W’s reputation for it’s deep cultural roots, a community garden certainly seemed to anchor the sense of cohesion already growing in this part of town. Such a great idea.
I miss my days in the O4W and stories like this only make me want to come back!
We’ve designed many renovations in Old Fourth Ward and the surrounding area and note that as time goes by people are becoming more “Farm to Table” conscientious. This is one of the greatest steps forward I have seen in a long time. Let’s hope other communities follow suit and “Farm to Table” becomes a tradition once again.
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