The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved three agreements totaling more than $300,000 that will strengthen access to fresh produce for residents, many of them in traditionally underserved communities.

The first item, a $150,000 agreement approved unanimously by the council, will give the Fountain Heights neighborhood an upgraded urban farm with a neighborhood market and community kitchen.

“This is a huge achievement, 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 the historical Birmingham neighborhood, “including meeting community needs for healthy, culturally appropriate, fresh foods through urban farming initiatives.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture categorizes Fountain Heights as a food desert.

According to city staff, the project, called Heart of the Farm, also will offer access to a commercial kitchen for 60 food-based micro businesses.

It will involve running water lines to 10 farm lots.

Leaders hope the initiative will provide 25,000 pounds of nutritious, locally grown food to the community, and they expect it to create nine new jobs earning $20 an hour or more.

“This organization has a lot of pride in our community and has helped us to really put this land to use through their hard work, sweat and dedication to providing clean, healthy food to our residents,” Councilor LaTonya Tate said. “I’m so excited to see this expansion and for what this will mean for people experiencing food insecurities in our district. All of this intersects when we’re talking about improving quality of life. It starts with having access to healthy foods, and I just have to publicly thank Dominique and her group for everything they’ve done.”

Jones Valley Program Expansions

The council on Tuesday also approved two agreements with Jones Valley Teaching Farm. One will give the group $120,000 to implement an urban farmer grant program, which will help prospective farmers in the Birmingham area with startup or operational expenses.

Jones Valley operates teaching 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 its Good School Food Program into Barrett and Robinson elementary schools.

According to the group’s website, the Good School Food program “is a hands-on food education model that connects students to food, farming and the culinary arts through standards-based, cross-curricular lessons during the school day.”