DAY 1 | TOURS | SUNDAY, APRIL 14
Spend the day traveling around Atlanta, GA touring various farms and businesses showcasing the diversity of approaches within Urban Agriculture! Attendees will meet at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot in the morning and be led around the city to different sites along a predetermined route. The day will culminate with a networking session and happy hour at the brand new Generator space, plus a keynote from Ryan Gravel. Meals (breakfast, lunch, happy hour snacks and drinks), transportation, and entry to all sites are included in your ticket price. Tickets purchased by April 1st are guaranteed their tour track first choice.
Preparing For Your Tour
Please Ensure You Bring The Following:
Closed toe shoes that are okay to get dirty and are comfortable to walk in | A majority of us are doing farm tours after all!
Reusable Water Bottle | This is crucial to limit the amount of plastic used throughout the day.
Sunscreen and Sunglasses | Protect your beautiful skin and eyes!
Bag To Store Everything | Keep everything contained in one place.
Umbrella | If there is any chance of rain please bring an umbrella as the majority of the day will be outside.
Other Notes For the Day
You must stay with your tour throughout the day | If you wish to depart early, it is at your own expense and responsibility.
Under no circumstance will you be allowed to take your own vehicle to each tour site | Please contact the AgLanta Organizing Committee with any concerns.
All Tours start at The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot and will end at Generator | Buses will be shuttling from Generator to The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot for your convenience until 6:30pm.
Sunday Schedule
9am - 9:40 am | Check-in at The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot. Enjoy a hearty breakfast and conversation with fellow tour participants.
9:40am - 9:45 am | All buses will be boarded for day’s activities. Tour Track 3 will depart via foot to their first location.
9:50am | Tours depart from The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot.
10am - 4pm | Tour Sites visited and a very special lunch will be provided on each Tour Track with local chefs, caterers, and farms.
4pm - 5pm | Networking Happy Hour at Generator.
5pm-6:30pm | Buses will shuttle from Generator to The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot if you wish to depart early.
5pm - 6pm | Conversation with The AgLanta Conference, Generator, and Ryan Gravel.
6:30pm | Last bus departs from Generator.
Track 1 | Urban Agriculture in Communities
This Track is Best For | Those eager to see how agriculture can integrate into an urban, corporate, and community setting.
Attendees will hear first hand the opportunities and challenges that come with running urban farms. Learn about how community supported agriculture (CSA) programs can positively impact local residents, how installing beehives and orchards on a corporate campus can teach and engage employees, and how publicly funded food forests can feed communities! This is an amazing tour for those excited by how agriculture and cities can exist harmoniously.
Track 2 | Distribution and Operations
This Track is Best For | Distributors, Processors, Supply Chain Enthusiasts, Wholesalers, and Growers.
Get a behind the scenes look on how food moves throughout a city. Check out how distributors procure, store, and ship out food. See how food kits delivery companies manage the entire process from farm to box and support refugee communities along the way. Figure out what goes into the relationship between farms and wholesalers as they sell their crops.
Track 3 | Sports, Venue, and Infrastructure Innovation
This Track is Best For | Those doing business with large venues, those interested in public/private relationships, distributors, city officials, designers and architects, sustainability professionals, event planners, and sports enthusiasts.
Please note - this is a walking tour!
How do the largest venues in Atlanta manage their energy, food waste, and environmental impact? What are some ways they integrate farming into their infrastructure? What are some of the opportunities and challenges with public and private business relationships? These are all questions to be answered on this tour track where venues and public spaces showcase their innovative ways of creating positive environmental interventions while managing tens of thousands of guests.
TRACK 4 | Innovative Food and Ag Models
This Track is Best For | Those with a foundation in farming looking to see fascinating ways urban farms create innovative infrastructures. People in the food innovation space looking to see how universities support food through branding, packaging, and scientific research.
This tour track gives you 3 ways in which innovation has played a critical role in the development of each site. What happens when a foreclosed motel property is bought and turned into an organic farm? How do you work to incorporate a large scale organic farm with hoop houses in an urban environment? What role can universities play in supporting food and packaging innovation?
Track 5 | Kennesaw State University & Hydroponics with AmHydro
This Track is Best For | Those who understand the fundamentals of agriculture and are interested in leveling-up their knowledge through an all-day experience at Hickory Grove Farms, Kennesaw State University’s 26 acre farm. Best for growers, academics, farming entrepreneurs, and agricultural students!
This track will be co-led by Farm Operations Manager, Michael Blackwell and Vice President of American Hydroponics, Joe Swartz. It will encompass a deep-dive into farming operations at Kennesaw State University, showcasing how the farm supports KSU’s culinary arm. Michael and Joe will discuss how the Hydroponic system installed by AmHydro plays a role in food production for Hickory Grove Farms.
A Culminating Conversation with Ryan Gravel
Hosted at Generator
Best known for his master’s thesis and early work that launched the Atlanta Beltline, Ryan Gravel is an urban planner, designer, and author working on infrastructure, concept development, and policy as the founder of Sixpitch. He recently completed the Atlanta City Design, which designs the city’s inevitable change so that it grows into a better version of itself. He is also the founder of Generator, a nonprofit startup which, alongside a future restaurant called Aftercar, creates a venue and platform for ideas that nobody is asking for, but that just might change the world. Along with other projects at Sixpitch and his book, Where We Want to Live, (St. Martin’s Press), Ryan’s work investigates the cultural side of infrastructure, describing how its intimate relationship with our way of life can illuminate a brighter path forward for cities.