Brownieland’s June Volunteer Project with Fresh Harvest & Compost Now

For our June Volunteer Project, Brownieland lent a hand at the Fresh Harvest and Compost Now Volunteer Day! 

A full circle partnership, Fresh Harvest delivers local organic produce to families in Greater Atlanta. CompostNow collects veggie scraps from many of those same customers, composts them, and delivers them to many locations, including the Fresh Harvest garden. By buying local organic produce and composting the scraps, Fresh Harvest and CompostNow customers are creating a closed loop system in which local food communities are supported, food waste and carbon emissions are reduced, and our soil is enriched, growing more nutrient-dense food. 

We spent the morning getting the garden ready for the full heat of summer. There was an assortment of tasks to choose from like weeding, adding compost, harvesting, and spreading woodchips. Coffee and snacks were provided (yum!). Plus, the volunteer day was a family-friendly event providing a garden educator to lead kids in a compost activity and lesson.

Fresh Harvest provides a home and office delivery of local organic produce throughout Greater Atlanta. Baskets are customizable, and you can add local organic groceries like meat, milk, and eggs. Since 2012, Fresh Harvest has worked to create an ethical food hub in Atlanta by supporting sustainable agriculture, minimizing food/packaging waste, and creating jobs from the refugee neighbors in Clarkston.

 The Fresh Harvest Garden is situated on 30 acres in Stone Mountain. Home to the Spivey family for over eight generations, there is a ton of history on site, including a pre-civil war cabin. The garden is nestled among the wooded property overlooking the Spivey Lake. Fresh Harvest uses the space for horticultural field trips with refugee youth as well as supplying produce to FH baskets and their weekly subsidized market in Clarkston for refugees. 

Over 80% of what Fresh Harvest buys throughout the year is grown within 70 miles of Atlanta. They partner with farmers who practice restorative farming enriching their soil and their surrounding communities for generations to come. By focusing on local growers, FH supports Georgia’s agricultural economy, reduces fuel emission of shipping cross-country, connects people with farmers and their stories, and creates a community in Atlanta of people passionate about eating ethically. Find out more about Fresh Harvest and how it works HERE.

Compost Now’s vision is to close the loop on food waste by empowering community members and local businesses to divert their compostables from the landfill and, instead, use those nutrients to build nutrient-rich soil. Closing the loop on food waste is imperative in building healthy soil, creating resilient, local food systems,and fighting climate change. Compost Now has discovered that composting creates more jobs, fights climate change, and builds a more vibrant, resilient local food system. 

The aim of Compost Now  is to continue lowering the barriers associated with composting, find and implement effective ways to reinforce the environmental, social, and economical benefits of compost(ing), and, at the same time, build a lasting, profitable organization that empowers its employees and customers. Find out more about Compost Now HERE.