Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill Community Garden

The Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill was made possible by The USDA Forest Service Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (CFP).  In 2016, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Resilience created the first Urban Agriculture Director.  One of the first projects in this role was to apply for a CFP grant for $86,000 which provided funding to purchase the 7.1 acres that created our food forest.  The Director working with The Conservation Fund, located the best parcel of land to become an urban food forest. They took the historical use of the land and surrounding community need (as a food desert) into consideration when searching for the space.  Current residents still talk about the Morgan family, who once owned and farmed the land. They would leave excess produce on the fence surrounding the farm for community members to enjoy once they harvested their produce.  A “food desert” is an area, usually with low-income residents, that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food.  Food deserts are characterized by a lack of supermarkets, decreasing residents’ access to fruits, vegetables and other wholesome foods.  The Browns Mill-Lakewood Community is part of the 22.3% of Metropolitan Atlanta with low access to fresh produce. The Browns Mill Community Garden is a very unique project with it being located within Atlanta’s first Urban Food Forest.  

The Browns Mill Community Garden’s first planting, using volunteers, was in October of 2018.  However, without a garden manager, crops were not being maintained.  Douglas E. Hardeman, a member of the community, recognized the need and became Garden Manager in January of 2019, along with Rosemary W, Griffin, as Assistant Garden Manager.  The Aglanta Grows-A-Lot application to adopt and manage the community garden was approved on April 7, 2019.    Research has shown this is about as many members a garden this size can realistically support.  We grow communally in the garden to ensure all the raised beds are always well-maintained.  Residents of the community are encouraged to join the group in order to work the garden, and therefore, reap the benefits of the harvests.  We also share our harvests with senior citizens, even if they are not able to physically work the garden, as well as other residents.  We donate produce to the area senior citizen’s center, the food pantry at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church & other organizations addressing food insecurity.  Additionally, when available, harvests are shared with volunteers coming to the Community Garden & Food Forest to work.  We hope to educate the residents in the area on the benefits of healthy eating; showing them it is possible to have their own garden at home.  We want to teach people it is possible to help themselves. In collaboration with schools, we have already seen how the interest and love of growing food can be instilled in children at an early age.   Hopefully, they will be able to influence some of their parents’ buying decisions, making healthier choices for the family.  The EBT program offers 2 for 1 when buying fresh produce, in an effort to help its recipients make fresh foods an affordable choice.  We want them to see the value in this perk and encourage them to take advantage of it.  

Our founding garden manager, Douglas E. Hardeman, pictured above, passed in 2021.  We will be working toward getting the garden named after him.  Without Doug getting us off to a good start, we would not be as successful.

The Conservation Fund turned management of the Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill over to the City of Atlanta Parks & Recreation Dept. on July 1, 2019.  It is currently the largest food forest in the United States at 7.1 acres.  The media attention for it is international.  Before the pandemic, it was often visited by people from other cities within the United States, as well as from other countries.  Their purpose was to learn about the Food Forest model to see if it is possible to duplicate some version of it where they live.  The Community Garden is usually their first stop.  They always have questions and we are happy to share information, and our experiences, with them.  The community garden continues to attract attention to the Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill.  The continued notoriety of the Food Forest in the media still generates interest from all over.  

View a feature video about our space here