Nation's Largest Public Food Forest Gets a Chance to Grow in Atlanta

A new 7-acre public food forest is part of an initiative to ensure every resident of Atlanta has access to fresh food by 2021.

1 minute read

May 29, 2019, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Fruit Trees

Aytunc Dilber / Shutterstock

"An ordinance passed last week by the Atlanta City Council paves the way for the creation of Atlanta’s first public food forest," reports Sean Keenan.

The urban food forest is planned for a 7-acre wooded area in the neighborhood of Lakewood Heights. According to Keenan, the food forest will be the largest in the country. There are 70 public food forests around the country, as mapped by Sustainable America.

"The legislation, pushed by councilmembers Carla Smith, Matt Westmoreland, and Jennifer Ide, calls on the city to pay $157,384 to The Conservation Fund, the environmental agency that purchased the land in 2016 after the plot was abandoned," according to Keenan.

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