From our innovative community engagement approach to the systems we've built to support our statewide partners, Wholesome Wave Georgia is becoming a national leader. This year, we've been invited to share our strategies, processes, and learnings at conferences and convenings to help organizations doing similar work around the world. At each stop, we've also gained important knowledge and made impactful relationships to help us serve more Georgians in need.  At the 2023 Nutrition Incentive Hub Statewide Scale Mini-Convening in Philadelphia, our team mate Alex Duncan shared methods we u ..read more

Wholesome Wave Georgia (WWG) is pleased to share their progress to increase nutrition access while raising awareness about making fresh, healthy, locally grown food affordable and available in the City of Atlanta.  Since January, WWG deepened their work within the City of Atlanta to improve food security after receiving a $500,000 grant from the City of Atlanta to expand the nonprofit’s impact. WWG has 22 partners (including farmers markets, farms, and locally owned and operated brick-and-mortar retailers) and is on track to match $50,000 of SNAP/EBT (“food stamps”) purchases on fruits an ..read more

by Amanda Newsom Since Wholesome Wave Georgia’s inception in 2009, we’ve made incredible progress growing our partnerships to offer access to locally grown food to people across our state. As we embark on the next chapter in our organization's growth, we’re eager to serve one of our most vulnerable populations which also happens to be a significant percentage of eligible SNAP recipients (i.e. people using food stamps): older adults. Food-insecure older adults face barriers to accessing fresh, healthy food because of low fixed incomes, lack of transportation, health conditions, and high health ..read more

by Trinity Harrison When we talk about nutrition access, we’re talking about what makes a community sustainable. Often the idea of sustainability is relegated to the idea of changing our environmental impacts, but really it’s a whole theory that embodies social, economic, and environmental principles. Wholesome Wave Georgia received a $500,000 grant from the City of Atlanta in early 2023 to increase nutrition access in the city. Because of this funding, we initiated a project this spring to build local food system infrastructure in the City of Atlanta, which is part of what makes Atlanta a le ..read more

Eager to explore new ways to provide technical and other support to Georgia’s mobile markets, Wholesome Wave Georgia’s Moira O’Neill virtually attended the Mobile Market Summit hosted by Veggie Van Training Center in Buffalo, NY. Moira explained that the summit brought together all kinds of mobile market owners and supervisors from across the United States to share what they do, learn practical tips, and network. “It can feel really powerful to be around other people who understand the work,” said Moira. Moreover, “Everyone at this conference was focused on food justice and food access. They s ..read more

By Mary Virginia Coffman It’s hard enough to be food insecure without also developing a chronic illness. The least expensive foods often undermine health, contributing to diet-related diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, weight imbalances (too high or low), and heart disease. The stress of not knowing if you can feed your family makes the diseases worse. Enter Wholesome Wave Georgia’s Georgia Food for Health program, which “provides food insecure households with diet-related illnesses nutrition education and fresh food prescriptions redeemable at participating local produce retailer ..read more

By Mary Virginia Coffman Mary Virginia Coffman and one of her new romaine lettuce plants. Photo credit: Mary Virginia Coffman. Want to participate in the COVID-19 inspired Victory Garden movement? Wholesome Wave Georgia and Foodwell Alliance have once again partnered on the Georgia Plant 2 Plate program. Anyone can buy beautiful food producing plants through the sale, and those who pay with EBT purchase them at 50% off and receive a gardening kit so they can grow fresh, delicious food at home! I went to the sale located at The Farm at Good Samaritan Health Center to get my own garden growing ..read more

By Mary Virginia Coffman Wholesome Wave Georgia is pleased to welcome 10 new farmers markets, farms, brick-and-mortar retailers, and mobile markets to our 12th year of running the Georgia Fresh For Less program! With Georgia Fresh For Less, households relying on SNAP benefits can shop for 50% off fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables at participating sites across the state. Our March and April posts will be dedicated to Q&A’s with the site managers to get to know our new partners better. Each of the markets in this blog post began during the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 202 ..read more

At Wholesome Wave Georgia, we are grateful to serve a critical role in Georgia’s local food economy. Through partnerships with 77 farmers markets, farm stands, and retail locations across the state, we make fresh, local fruits and vegetables affordable to all Georgians by matching food stamps — also known as SNAP/EBT — on local food purchases. That means spending $10 of SNAP means $20 worth of fresh, local produce. One of our partners in Marigold Market, near Athens, Ga. Recently, the Athens Banner-Herald wrote a great article about Marigold Market, including our partnership and impact. But M ..read more

You can experience magic in a farmers’ markets’ gorgeous rainbow of produce, succulent pasture raised meats, flowers, baked goods, ready made meals, and more. The true magic though, is to be found in the human connection and the abundance cultivated in the food community. Wholesome Wave Georgia annually celebrates these relationships with its Judith Winfrey Leadership and Innovation Award. The award recognizes an outstanding individual for their leadership and innovation as a Farmers’ Market Manager in Georgia. The recipient of this award is passionate about their work with the market as both ..read more