Join Walton Wellness and support their mission by attending the Seed To Fork Experience: Tomatoes, The Class on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. with Chef Jason Cobb. Click here for details and tickets.
For DeDe Haris, Executive Director of Walton Wellness, it’s all about good habits. And through their variety of programming and successful approach to partnership, Walton Wellness is helping their neighbors create healthy habits and a greater sense of community through engaging with nutritious food.
Walton Wellness officially became a 501(c)(3) in 2011, dedicated to educating Walton residents about the tools, habits, and resources for good health. In their own words, the purpose of Walton Wellness is:
To be a catalyst in our community for creating a county-wide value of health. Our goal is to work on a macro community level that will allow for systemic change. We do this by implementing sustainable projects through community partnerships.
Walton County became a Georgia Food Oasis community in 2019 through the incredible work of DeDe Harris, her colleague, Health Educator Alex Lundy, and their network of partners to address health needs in their community. DeDe also coordinates the Walton Local Food Alliance (WLFA), a food policy council of neighboring food groups, farms, and restaurants. Click here for the full list of WLFA partners, statistics, and their latest work.
DeDe Harris (right), Executive Director of Walton Wellness, and Alex Lundy (left), Health Educator.
Walton County is situated approximately halfway between Atlanta and Athens and includes Monroe, Social Circle, and Loganville. This area has a long and storied agriculture history as well as one plagued with racial violence and economic depression. The area was hard-hit by the 2008 recession and the resulting closure of two cotton mills, leaving many Walton residents, particularly older residents, food insecure and lacking resources to support their health.
Which is where Walton Wellness steps in with initiatives created to help fill the gaps of a destabilized community. Walton Wellness’ programs include: The Mobile Farmacy Market, Health is Your Wealth, the Field Garden, Walton Local Food Alliance, Get Charmed, and Project Road Share. Each of these initiatives involves community partners coming together to address the specific elements that make up illness-fighting lifestyle habits.
One of the most robust offerings of Walton Wellness is their Mobile Farmacy Market, which runs every week from May through September and as a pop-up market through year-end serving Monroe, Social Circle, and Loganville. Each week during the pandemic, they have served an estimated 95 families through their drive-up COVID-19 version of the market, helped greatly by dividing the service areas and notifications using the Remind app as well as good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Participants in the program apply for this free, fresh grocery program and are determined based on income and other need-based factors.
The Mobile Farmacy Bus in action, pre-COVID-19.
A source for the Mobile Farmacy bus is Walton Wellness’ Field Garden, which was founded at 2010 and makes vibrant use of the land at the Walton County Sheriff’s Office through this local partnership with the Sheriff’s Office, St. Albans Episcopal Church, and the Episcopal Community Foundation of Middle and North Georgia. In 2020, through harvests of the Field Garden and donations from the Grow A Row program from families and churches, the Mobile Farmacy Market became officially 100% locally grown.
Okra and transitioning the garden at Walton Wellness’ Field Garden.
Each market, Walton Wellness shoppers are greeted—from the safety of their vehicle—with an authentic shopping experience, able to choose which fresh fruits and vegetables they will take home each week. This is very intentional, versus a pre-packaged box or bag of produce, so that the shoppers will better engage with and learn about what items they’re getting. For DeDe Harris, it’s getting in this habit of asking questions and making healthy decisions that mean long-lasting benefits—education and connection over food combine to nourish the community. Nudge campaigns like the #MeatlessMonday initiative further this social engagement around good food.
When speaking to DeDe Harris, it’s clear she and her colleague Alex Lundy, know the high return on the investments they’re making in local fresh food for Walton County. From the excitement and strong sense of community they see leading up to and on market days to the way so many neighboring organizations, farms, and businesses have rallied in support—they are truly doing work at the root of creating a resilient food system in Walton County.
Join Walton Wellness and support their mission by attending the Seed To Fork Experience: Tomatoes, The Class on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. with Chef Jason Cobb. Click here for details and tickets.
