The city of East Point, in partnership with CompostNow and nonprofit Food Well Alliance, is launching a free, first-of-its-kind food waste drop-off program for residents.
Beginning at 10 a.m. on Thursday, residents can visit ArtsXchange at 2148 Newnan St. in East Point to drop off food waste. The resulting compost will be returned to local Black and Indigenous farmers and growers of color at no cost, thanks to a federal grant.
The resulting compost will be given to local Black and Indigenous farmers for free, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture in February awarded CompostNow and East Point a grant to pilot a two-year program.
East Point is the first metro Atlanta city to create a City Agriculture Plan, thanks to the Atlanta Regional Commission and Food Well Alliance. Implementation of the plan has been funded with a $250,000 USDA grant, a $75,000 Food Well Alliance grant, and in-kind support from the city of East Point.
Program attendees enter the ArtsXchange driveway and drive through the gate to park in the rear of the building. From 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, the program will feature a ribbon cutting with city officials, compost demonstrations, on-site harvesting of food from the community garden, and distribution of compost starter kits. Community members are also invited to come and pick up compost starter kits from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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