Atlanta Braves Pitch In For the Planet

Browns Mill HAW Group Photo

The Atlanta Braves are Pitching in for the Planet by creating 20 community orchards across metro Atlanta in partnership with One Tree Planted and Players for the Planet. These neighborhood-based orchards will increase access to fresh, healthy food for urban residents while expanding tree canopy and promoting environmental sustainability.

The Giving Grove and Food Well Alliance will help plant a total of 300 fruit trees, which will produce more than 13,000 servings of healthy fruit each year. These community orchards will absorb storm runoff water, preventing flash flooding and protecting the fresh water supply, while also helping reduce urban air temperatures through carbon sequestration and the creation of shade. More than 100 volunteers will be engaged in this project.

For each site, the project will train local residents to serve as volunteer orchard stewards and will provide the plant material, supplies, training and tools necessary to maintain the trees and grow a bountiful harvest of fruits, berries and nuts for the neighborhood. Schools, community groups and urban agriculture organizations interested in hosting an orchard site are invited to apply; a panel of community representatives coordinated by Food Well Alliance will evaluate and rank applications.

Other Atlanta Braves Recycling and Sustainability Efforts

Atlanta Braves Recycle Green Team

Volunteerism

In honor of Hank Aaron Week and in partnership with Hands On Atlanta, the Braves front office staff participated in a community service project at Browns Mill Urban Food Forest. Browns Mill Park is in a food desert, with 1 in 3 Browns Mill Park residents live below the poverty line and the closest grocery store as much as 5 miles from some residents. Since 2020, the Browns Mill Urban Food Forest has addressed this challenge head on by providing access to affordable, good-quality fresh food.

Atlanta Brave Volunteers

One Tree Planted is on a mission to make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. But just planting isn't enough. We're dedicated to monitoring and maximizing the impact our trees makeā€”from removing carbon, to nurturing biodiversity, to ensuring everyone, no matter where you live, enjoys trees around them.

We plant trees by working with a global network of partners who are knowledgeable about local ecology. We only plant local tree species, grown in nearby nurseries, and planted when conditions are optimal for tree survival. Trees are an incredibly important part of life on Earth and One Tree Planted is committed to planting trees wherever they are needed most, whether that be large scale global reforestation projects or urban forestry projects that directly serve communities and the people living in them, like the orchards that will be planted across metro Atlanta with this project.

At its core, the term "urban forests" refers to the trees closest to us - from individual trees on streets and lawns, to parks, school groves, and suburban forests. Each unique in their own way, these trees are powerhouses for providing ecosystem services such as air pollution removal, stormwater pollution capture, carbon sequestration, and urban heat regulation, making forests essential green infrastructure for any healthy, vibrant community.

At One Tree Planted, urban forestry is the act of maintaining, protecting, and planting urban forests, within the backdrop of a rapidly changing environmental landscape. One Tree Planted seeks to support environmental justice and achieve tree equity by supporting communities in reaching their urban forestry goals, especially as it relates to planting new trees in neighborhoods that need them most.

Players for the Planet works to unite all athletes to bring lasting and measurable transformation to the Earth. They believe the responsibility to preserve and protect our planet falls on each and every one of us. As professional athletes, they are fortunate enough to have a powerful platform and the resources needed to create positive change in our world when it needs our help more than ever. They seek to unite to make sustainability and environmental responsibility foundational values of our sport. They are proud to partner with One Tree Planted to create opportunities for athletes, fans, and the general public to become a part of the movement to help preserve our planet. Learn more at https://www.playersfortheplanet.org/.

The Giving Grove's mission is to provide healthy calories, strengthen community, and improve the urban environment through a nationwide network of sustainable community orchards. To accomplish this, The Giving Grove supports neighborhood volunteers in planting and caring for fruit trees, nut trees, and berry brambles that improve the urban environment, increase tree canopy and provide a sustainable source of free, healthy food for neighborhoods facing high rates of food insecurity. Founded in 2013, The Giving Grove network includes community orchards across the United States, including Atlanta, with a collective goal to grow 1 billion servings of fresh food holistically, without artificial fertilizers or pesticides.

Food Well Alliance (FWA) is a collaborative network of local leaders working together to build thriving community gardens and urban farms across metro Atlanta. FWA's mission is to provide resources and support to local growers to connect and build healthier communities. Our vision is an equitable, local food ecosystem in which everyone can participate and benefit. FWA was founded in 2015 when Jim Kennedy, chair of the James M. Cox Foundation, and Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, had an idea to build healthier communities across metro Atlanta by connecting and supporting members of our local food movement. Today, we support more than 120 community gardens and 35 urban farms in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton counties.