City Agriculture Planning

In its role as the regional planning agency, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) develops and updates the Atlanta Region’s Plan, a long-range blueprint that details investments needed to ensure metro Atlanta’s future success and improve the region’s quality of life. As a part of this long-range plan, ARC develops a Regional Resource Plan to protect and manage metro Atlanta’s natural and cultural resources. City Agriculture Planning aligns with two adopted policies outlined in the Regional Resource Plan. Creating and protecting space for urban farms, gardens, and orchards fulfills the plan’s objectives to preserve passive greenspaces as well as preserving areas for local food production activities.

The City Agriculture Plan program was launched in 2018 to address the major findings of Atlanta’s Local Food Baseline Report developed by Food Well Alliance (FWA). This comprehensive review of the metro Atlanta regional food system revealed a need for growers and community members to have more meaningful participation in the development and implementation of policies and programs affecting local food and agriculture.

FWA and ARC partnered in 2019 to develop the region’s first City Agriculture Plan for the City of East Point, Georgia. After finalizing East Point’s Plan in 2021, the program expanded to the City of Alpharetta, GA. In 2022, after considering applications from cities across FWA’s five-county service area, ARC and FWA selected the City of Jonesboro to develop the region’s third City Agriculture Plan, which was adopted by the City of Jonesboro in November 2023.