K. Rashid Nuri
Author, Growing Out Loud: Journey of a Food Revolutionary
Purchase Autographed Copy of Book: www.thenurigroup.com/book

The Nuri Group is calling for the City of Atlanta to expand its national leadership in creating local food economies. Atlanta is one of the few cities in the nation that have made urban agriculture an officially recognized and supported part of City Government. It’s time to go further by instituting overarching, strategic, and systematic organization of resources that have been garnered from many sources. 

Supporting Small Farms and Urban Agriculture is a matter of public health, equity, and economic development.

In reality, small farms and urban agriculture are essential services, which:

·   provide jobs
·    establish better access to wholesome foods
·    improve health for all people
·    clean and beautify the environment
·   improve property values and reduce crime

Essential resources that can appropriately come from city governments to support Small Farms and Urban Agriculture include:

1. Commitment

2. . Land

3.  Labor

4.  Capital

The following list is designed to start a more in-depth conversation about innovative steps that any City can undertake. 

Commitment

We recommend that the Mayor and City Council of Atlanta and other municipalities officially declare Small Farms and Urban Agriculture as essential businesses for food security, food self-sufficiency, economic resilience, and development of the community.

 Land

·   Provide low-cost, long-term leases of idle land for food production and education
· Offer land patents
·   Create conservation easements
·    Build and/or convert housing for farmers
·    Build permanent Farmers Market facilities

 Labor

Support pre-industrial, regenerative, organic agricultural training through:

·    High school & technical school training partnerships
·    Partnerships with local urban agriculture educators
·    Advocating for organic agricultural training at Georgia universities

 Capital (physical and financial)

Create sustainable funding sources utilizing:

·    SPLOST tax funds
·    Utility surcharge
·    Tax benefits for landowners converting grass into food
·    Partner with local banks and community development sources to provide production financing
·    Provide livable wage salaries, subsidies, and supplements for start-ups
·    Build a municipal composting operation
·    Build farm infrastructure, including:
o   Irrigation meters
o  Wells
o  Farm equipment
o Input supplies such as seed
o  Breeding stock
o  Farm structures
o  Added-value processing facilities

Within 48 days in 1862, Congress set the stage for the Midwest to become the breadbasket of this country. America took giant strides in feeding its people by first establishing the Department of Agriculture, and then enacting the Homestead Act, the Morrill Act, and the Railroad Act. All of these Acts were later revisited and further expanded in recognition of the essential role agriculture plays in keeping the nation strong.

In the 1940s, however, the “Green Revolution” brought advances in agricultural productivity that came at a high cost to the preservation of the land and health of the people. High productivity was fueled by chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, as well as widespread hybridization of crops. These “advances” competed with the ideals of providing good quality, wholesome food. It also encouraged exponential growth in the size of farms. Devitalized food and the concentration of land and wealth in the hands of Big Ag has created a need to overhaul our agricultural system. 

Our challenge now is to combine wholesome food with high agricultural productivity. Small Farms and Urban Agriculturalists have pioneered the way, using natural intensive growing techniques that support people and the environment. Their work of building a new agricultural foundation, over the past 40 years, should be supported with a modern Small Farm and Urban Agriculture Homestead Act. This will help to empower and support the Green Evolution of the 21st century. This evolutionary movement began at the ground level. A groundswell of city leadership will help to create change at the national level.

Atlanta! Your time has come.