By james art 
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved three agreements totaling more than $300,000 that will improve access to fresh produce for residents, many in traditionally underserved communities.
The first item, a $150,000 agreement approved unanimously by the council, would give the Fountain Heights neighborhood a modernized urban farm with a neighborhood market and community kitchen.
“This is a huge accomplishment not only for our organization but for our community,” said Maria Dominique Villanueva, co-founder of Fountain Heights Cooperative.
According to its website, the group aims to improve the quality of life for the 3,000 residents of Birmingham’s historic district, “including meeting the community’s need for healthy, culturally appropriate, fresh foods through urban farming initiatives.”
The USDA categorizes Fountain Heights as a food desert.
The project, called Heart of the Farm, will also offer access to a commercial kitchen for 60 food micro-enterprises, according to city officials.
It will include water pipes to 10 plots.
Leaders hope the initiative will provide 25,000 pounds of nutritious, locally grown food to the community and expect to create nine new jobs earning $20 an hour or more.
“This organization takes great pride in our community and has helped us truly utilize this land through their hard work, sweat and dedication to providing clean, healthy food to our residents,” said Councilwoman LaTonya Tate. “I am so excited to see this expansion and what it will mean for the food insecure people in our area. All of this intersects when we talk about improving the quality of life. It starts with access to healthy foods and I just have to publicly thank Dominique and her group for all they have done.
Jones Valley Program Extensions
The council on Tuesday also approved two agreements with Jones Valley Teaching Farm. One would give the group $120,000 to implement an urban farmer grant program that would help would-be farmers in the Birmingham area with start-up or operating costs.
Jones Valley operates learning farms at seven sites on elementary, middle and high school campuses in Birmingham.
The second agreement with Jones Valley will give the group $50,000 to expand the Good School Meals program at Barrett and Robinson elementary schools.
According to the group’s website, the Good School Food program “is a hands-on model of food education that connects students to food, agriculture and the culinary arts through standards-based, cross-curricular lessons throughout the school day.”