14 | City of Atlanta
about planting and providing care to plants.
Beyond the schools, community gardens
have been also been increasingly established
throughout the city. Thus far, more than 500
volunteers have worked to create and main-
tain community gardens with Park Pride, a
local nonprofit organization. Many of these
gardens, located in neighborhoods without
a grocery store, donate a portion of their
produce to neighbors in need through local
food pantries.
Those efforts factor in two other impor-
tant goals for the city: to expand green space
so that all residents are within one-half mile
walking distance to a park or greenspace; and
another designed to ensure residents have
ready access to locally grown food within ten
miles of seventy-five percent of all Atlantans.
Quarles says the City has longstand-
ing partnerships with organizations such as
Georgia Organics to not only capitalize on
Atlanta’s yearlong growing season, but help
residents understand the benefits of commu-
nity gardening. The benefits involve more
than the harvesting of produce. Quarles ex-
plains how green spaces provide an effective
means to more capably manage storm water,
but also help minimize the impact of elevat-
