birminghamal.gov
Jones Valley Teaching Farm and the City of Birmingham announced 10 recipients of the Urban Farmer Grant Program. This initiative is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and is designated to provide financial relief. The funds will be used to address operational shortfalls that urban farming entities experienced due to the pandemic, and before that, longstanding inequities in economic opportunity and investment.
“The City of Birmingham is proud to stand with Jones Valley Teaching Farm in supporting our local urban farmers. These investments are proof of our commitment to both small business growth and food access for all residents,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin. “Congratulations to all our grant recipients and thanks to Jones Valley for your dedication to the health, wellness, and economic growth of our city.”
“I am thrilled to see how this investment increases our ability to feed each other and inspires folks to grow, cook, and share food. Many of the awardees have garden training components to their work, allowing the impact to spread far beyond the urban farms themselves,” said Jessica Hill, Jones Valley Teaching Farm Community Programs Manager.
The program awarded $10,000 each to the following:
- A Beautiful Life Enterprises (ABLE): Whole-food nutrition and healing through community-centered education and gardening.
- Birmingham Eastside EcoGardens (B.E.E.): Growing food, wellness, and environmental stewardship in East Birmingham.
- Birmingham Urban Gardeners: Teaching communities to grow food and build sustainability together.
- Bush Hills Connections Inc.: Revitalizing Bush Hills through urban farming, wellness, and opportunity.
- Christian Service Mission: Expanding neighborhood food access through gardens and partnerships.
- East Lake Recovery Center: Cultivating recovery, connection, and healing through peer-led gardening.
- The Flourish: Where art, food sovereignty, and community wellness take root.
- LiftUp Alabama Foundation: Growing students through outdoor learning and food education.
- Magic City Mushrooms: Local mushrooms, community education, and sustainable growing.
- Reviving Our Neighbor CDC: Advancing equity and fresh food access in Ensley.
“The Urban Farm Grant will be an amazing resource towards creating community food experiences and facilitating community food education in my West End neighborhood and beyond. A beautiful thing,” said Chef Ama Shambulia, owner and operator of A Beautiful Life Enterprises LLC.
“This investment will help us make garden upgrades. It will allow us to improve our irrigation system and add a workstation. These improvements will help increase our production of fresh produce, which we provide to our community at no cost,” said Johnnie Brown and Vickie Jones of Birmingham Urban Gardeners.
The Birmingham City Council awarded Jones Valley Teaching Farm $120,000 in October 2024, with the intention of the organization regranting the majority of funds to urban farmers in the city. These funds are part of the city’s overall $141+ million ARPA allocation for economic recovery, focusing on food access, small business, and community development.
Jones Valley Teaching Farm was tapped as a regranting partner due to its commitment to community programming, most notably through its Good Community Food program. The program strengthens the local food system by increasing food access, providing culinary and agricultural skills-based training, and sharing resources with urban growers and community gardens.
A total of 38 applications were reviewed by Jones Valley Teaching Farm staff and the Community Advisory Board members, with oversight and legal guidance provided by The City of Birmingham.
“The City of Birmingham is a food city, and to me, that means we grow it and share it too. We are lucky to have so many talented and passionate urban farmers in this city,” said Jessica Hill, Jones Valley Teaching Farm Community Programs Manager.
