Following a unanimous vote, the city of Birmingham announced that residents of Fountain Heights and surrounding areas will soon have an upgraded urban farm, neighborhood market, and community kitchen.
According to the $150,000 agreement with Fountain Heights Cooperative LLC, the city said the organization “will be installing the essential infrastructure, including city water access for ten farm lots, and constructing a neighborhood market and community kitchen to increase access to fresh and affordable food options for residents of Birmingham by developing a multifaceted space serving as a neighborhood market cooperative, offering affordable high-quality food to over 3,000 residents in the Fountain Heights area; and creating economic opportunities for micro-businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen access to 60 food-based micro businesses in the first year of operation.”
The Co-Founder of the Fountain Heights Cooperative, M. Dominique Villanueva, said the goal is to provide an additional 25,000 pounds of nutritious, local food in the first year to the more than 3,000 residents living in USDA defined food deserts in Fountain Heights and surrounding neighborhoods. Also they are looking to create nine quality jobs earning at or above $20 an hour.
The city said the organization has already prepared 70,000 seedlings to be planted and harvested in the coming months.
“This organization has a lot of pride in our community and has helped us to really put this land to use through their hard work, sweat and dedication to providing clean, healthy food to our residents. I’m so excited to see this expansion and for what this will mean for people experiencing food insecurities in our district. All of this intersects when we’re talking about improving quality of life. It starts with having access to healthy foods and I just have to publicly thank Dominique and her group for everything they’ve done.”
Councilor LaTonya Tate