Across Georgia, local nonprofits are nourishing their communities while advancing powerful, homegrown climate solutions. They are expanding access to healthy, affordable food; helping small farmers adopt climate-smart practices; building food sovereignty in communities long denied it; and improving public health with plant-forward nutrition programs. And they are doing this work during a period when federal funding is becoming less predictable. This makes local philanthropy and community partnerships more important than ever.
This fall, representatives from the foundations that support the Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grants visited four grantees focused on food and agriculture. What they found were stories of resilience, creativity, and deep local impact: work that strengthens communities today while also supporting several of the proven 20 Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions, like climate smart agriculture, plant-based diets, and reducing food waste.
These organizations are showing what climate action looks like when it begins at home, is grounded in community, and centers equity. Their stories offer hopeful models at a time when many communities are facing shrinking federal support for food access, nutrition incentives, and climate-smart agriculture programs.
Below, we share what funders learned during their visits.
Meeting Families Where They Are: Community Farmers Markets’ Free Produce Markets in Atlanta
In metro Atlanta, Community Farmers Markets (CFM) has long played a leading role in strengthening the local food ecosystem, connecting farmers to customers and making fresh food accessible to all. With support from the Climate Solutions & Equity Grants, CFM originally planned to scale up its MARTA Markets program that rescued unsold produce from farmers markets, provided additional income to farmers, and offered healthy grab-and-go food to transit riders with SNAP-doubling benefits.
But when post-pandemic ridership stayed low, CFM pivoted. Partnering with Concrete Jungle and local schools, they began piloting free produce markets at Title-1 elementary schools. The model worked, and the demand was undeniable.
During a recent site visit to Fred A. Toomer Elementary, funders observed students, parents, teachers, and neighbors gathering around tables of fresh produce and ready-to-eat plant-forward meals. Children lined up eagerly to try the “island veggie skillet” prepared by CFM’s educational chefs and collected stickers after enjoying their first bites. Families headed home with bags full of produce, plus a recipe card and a $5 coupon to use at one of CFM’s weekly markets.
CFM distributed 150 containers of white bean chili in record time that day, all packaged in compostable containers from Better Earth. They also shared information about SNAP matching, connections to emergency food resources, and tips for cooking seasonally.
The program now operates monthly at four Atlanta schools and is set to expand even further in 2026. But ongoing cuts to SNAP and other federal support threaten the security of families who rely on these programs. CFM continues to seek community donations and partnerships to sustain and grow these markets, which reduce food waste, improve health, and support local farmers.
Supporting Climate Smart Farmers on the Coast: Georgia Organics & McIntosh S.E.E.D.
A few hours south, the teams at Georgia Organics and McIntosh S.E.E.D. are helping Black farmers build resilience in the face of increasingly extreme weather. Their Climate Smart Farmer Cohort, launched in the first round of Drawdown Georgia grants, provides training, technical assistance, federal resource navigation, and mini-grants to help farmers adopt practices such as cover cropping, prescribed grazing, high tunnels, and solar energy.
Funders visited Berry Family Farms, a fifth-generation family farm in Long County that participated in the first cohort. With support from Georgia Organics, McIntosh S.E.E.D., cost-share funding from the National Resources Conservation Service, and a Drawdown Georgia mini-grant, the farm installed a 5-kilowatt solar array that now powers the refrigeration and freezer units used at regional farmers markets, supporting both climate progress and business growth.
Beyond solar, the farm has incorporated a range of climate smart practices, from forage management to cover cropping. Members of the Coastal Georgia Small Farmers Cooperative participated in the site visit, highlighting how this work is strengthening a growing network of small producers committed to resilient, regenerative agriculture across the region.
With their new grant cycle, Georgia Organics and McIntosh S.E.E.D. will expand the cohort to include at least 15 additional farmers, with priority given to those most severely affected by extreme weather. This work reduces emissions in the agricultural sector and helps keep small family farms thriving, even as key federal climate-smart programs face uncertain futures.
Expanding Food Sovereignty in West Savannah: Harambee House
In Savannah’s Woodville and Hudson Hill communities, Harambee House is expanding community-grown food systems rooted in climate smart agriculture, environmental justice, and local leadership.
Funders met with Harambee House founder Dr. Mildred McClain and her team to learn how their Drawdown Georgia grant is enabling them to scale their community gardens initiative. By partnering with local landowners who provide access to uncontaminated land, the grants are helping to fund a critical need in neighborhoods impacted by decades of industrial pollution and redlining.
During the visit, community leaders, garden apprentices, local farmers, and volunteers provided garden tours for the funders through in Pooler, Garden City, and Hudson Hill where residents are growing fresh produce using regenerative practices. The grant is helping Harambee House build greenhouses, expand garden beds, and establish washing and packaging facilities, enabling them to distribute nutritious produce more widely.
For residents who want to grow food but cannot safely use their own soil due to contamination, Harambee House’s model offers a path forward. It supports food sovereignty, builds workforce opportunities through paid apprenticeships, and strengthens neighborhood resilience. At a time when federal support for environmental justice and community agriculture programs is facing new limitations, local philanthropic support is essential to continue this work.
Bringing Plant-Forward Nutrition and Community Health Together: TCDC in Thomasville
In Thomasville’s historic Dewey City neighborhood, the Thomasville Community Development Corporation (TCDC) is bringing plant-forward meals, local produce, and health monitoring directly to older adults, all while strengthening local food businesses and community gardens.
During a recent site visit, funders learned how TCDC’s plant-based diet pilot works in partnership with Marathon Market, a Black-owned grocery store led by Dewey City native, Rendall Mash. Mash opened the market in a once-vacant building to provide the local access to fresh produce that the neighborhood had lacked for decades. Now, he sources produce from local farmers, fills subsidized food boxes for 40 residents, and collaborates with chef and business partner Alvin Davis to prepare free plant-forward meals four times a week for seniors at the Scott Senior Center.
In addition to meals, residents receive recipes, nutrition education, grocery lists, and bloodwork monitoring from local health professionals. Baseline and follow-up testing help participants monitor changes in markers such as blood pressure and diabetes risk. For many, this is the first time they’ve had regular access to fresh produce or structured health support.
The program is expanding beyond the senior center: transient residents at a local motor court can now receive blood tests and health consultations, subsidized by TCDC. Community gardens in Dewey City provide an emerging source of fresh produce, and plans are underway to incorporate food access and even solar energy into the redevelopment of the old Douglass High School site, where 50 affordable senior apartments are planned.
In a community designated as a food desert, these efforts are improving health outcomes, building local economic opportunity, and offering a replicable model of community-rooted climate solutions.
As You Plan Your Holiday Giving, Remember These Organizations
Each of these grantees is improving lives right now while advancing climate solutions that benefit all Georgians. Their work deserves to grow, and community support can help make that possible.
This giving season, we encourage you to remember Community Farmers Markets, Georgia Organics, Harambee House, McIntosh S.E.E.D., and Thomasville Community Development Corporation. Your support helps sustain the momentum of local climate action and ensures that these proven, equitable food and agriculture solutions continue to thrive.
Subscribe to Stay Connected
To stay up to date on the latest news and stories from our climate community, subscribe to the Georgia Climate Digest. You'll receive updates on Georgia’s progress on climate solutions, news from Drawdown Georgia, and actionable insights on climate delivered straight to your inbox twice a month.
