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A Little Dirt Won’t Hurt
Soil Festival raises awareness of dirt in healthy
By Grace Huseth
Food Well Alliance does not encourage
Atlantans to include dirt on the menu, but
they do believe dirt determines the quality
of the food that ends up on our plates.
The nonprofit, which works to help
strengthen the local food economy, is
hosting its annual Soil Festival at the Truly
Living Well’s Collegetown Farm, 324
Lawton St., on May 5 from 1 to 5 p.m.
The afternoon of free events will include
educational workshops, a children’s corner
with garden-based activities, a variety of
urban agriculture vendors, a petting zoo and
farm-to-table food. Attendees will also get a
free bag of compost for their own garden.
“FFealthy food starts from the ground
up and starts with the soil,” said Food Well
Alliance executive director Kim Karris.
“Who would think you could throw a party
around dirt, but hundreds of people show
up to this event.”
Through conversations with community
gardens and urban farmers, Karris
discovered the number one challenge to
growing food in Atlanta was access to
healthy soil and affordable, high quality
compost. A group of seven Food Well
Alliance leaders launched the FFealthy Soil,
FFealthy Community Initiative and hosted a
series of 30 workshops on the importance of
soil and composting.
“Especially in an urban area, you need
to make sure that soil is healthy and not
only free of toxins, but also that
it has all the nutrients needed,”
Karris said.
She finds environmentalists
have started to address food waste
more in recent years, yet few
people are making the connection
between where food waste goes
and how it can be returned to
farm and food production in the
form of nutrient rich compost.
Compost may take a few
months to cultivate, but the
payoff is high quality soil as the
key source for growing healthy
food. Gather food scraps, from
banana peels and eggshells to
coffee grounds and strawberry
tops, and place in a compost bin.
Use a thermometer to monitor
proper decomposing and food can
turn into fuel for the next crop.
“We are not a soil
organization, but we need
compost and the consciousness
of Atlantans to understand that
food waste is gold for an urban
farmer or gardener. Our ability to
recycle food waste and turn it into
compost for healthy soil is the
link that is missing,” Karris said.
For more information, visit
foodwellalliance.org. El
diets
The Soil Festival returns May 5 at Truly Living Well's Collegetown Farm.
Photo courtesy Jenni Girtman
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8 April 2018 | El
AtlantalNtownPaper.com