With the support of students and staff at the University of Georgia, a collaborative project dedicated to reducing food waste and food insecurity in Newton County is taking shape.
Newton County is a rapidly growing community about 45 minutes southeast of Atlanta, it has a population of 120,000 that is projected to grow by 5.2% over the next five years. Its largest city and county seat, Covington, is expected to grow by 10.8% in that same time frame. The county is home to several well-known manufacturing companies like General Mills, Michelin and FiberVisions, and Archer Aviation recently opened its newest manufacturing facility in Covington.
While Newton County boasts a median household income higher than Georgia’s average, nearly 25% of the county’s households rely on food assistance.
In 2023, Newton County became a UGA Archway Partnership community. An embedded UGA faculty member—the Archway professional—connects the community with UGA resources to address community-identified needs. With the numbers in mind, community leaders are hoping to jump-start outreach efforts centered around food and nutrition for those in need. Jeffrey Burke, Archway professional for Newton County, said Archway’s role is to unite these leaders and move forward with a coordinated and collaborative solution.
“We want to start with a goal that’s both attainable and actionable,” Burke said. “There’s strong interest in getting something off the ground, but first we need to lay the foundation. The focus is on aligning our efforts, not duplicating them, sharing resources and working together to move forward. The real question is, where and how do we begin?”
To help community leaders brainstorm ideas, Burke connected them with the Office of Service-Learning’s Campus Kitchen at UGA, a program that is dedicated to reducing food insecurity in Athens-Clarke County. The Archway Partnership and the Office of Service-Learning are both units of UGA Public Service and Outreach. Burke recently learned more about Campus Kitchen through UGA Public Service and Outreach’s Leadership Academy, and he coordinated a field trip to Athens for a tour of UGArden and a chance to learn from Campus Kitchen Coordinator Andie Bisceglia.
For the visit to Athens, Burke was joined by Marvoyee Yeedia, the SNAP-Ed coordinator with GNR (Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale counties) Public Health, and Amanda Yu-Nguyen, the director of Oxford College of Emory University’s Center for Healthful Living. The three met with Bisceglia to ask questions about its operations and gain insight into the program’s challenges and success stories. Bisceglia gave a tour of the storage spaces at UGArden and shared how UGA students and interns become leaders who keep the program running successfully across food recoveries, cooking shifts and meal deliveries.
Bisceglia’s main advice was to start small. To make sure their program is effective, she said it is important to create surveys and communicate with the community to discover the specific wants and needs. From there, they can begin building relationships with local partner organizations to match those needs.
“It’s been great to collaborate with the Archway Partnership and local leaders to address health and wellness concerns in Newton County,” Yu-Nguyen said. “The work at UGArden and Campus Kitchen reflects a shared commitment to building a healthier, more resilient community, and I am eager to see how we could do something similar in Newton County.”
During the visit, Burke, Yeedia and Yu-Nguyen also had an opportunity to meet with several third-year UGA students in Terry College’s Institute for Leadership Advancement (ILA). As part of their service-learning project in ILA, this group of eight students will provide their support to the Newton County Archway Partnership, researching opportunities and logistics to help identify attainable goals for the project.
“Growing up, volunteering with Meals on Wheels with my family was one of the first ways I saw how much of a positive impact community service can make on someone’s life,” said Carson Kennedy, an exercise and sport science major in the ILA group. “By connecting my background in community food distribution with the kind of impact I hope to make in the future as a healthcare worker in rural Georgia, I’m excited to work with my team and local leaders to build sustainable public health solutions in Newton County.”
As this project develops into the next school year, Burke intends to have the ILA group visit Newton County and explore Covington in person to learn about the varied aspects of the community—including touring some of the notable filming sites for shows like “The Vampire Diaries” or movies like “Remember the Titans.”
Communities are complex and multi-faceted. Tapping into the varied resources of UGA Public Service and Outreach and university students allows for unique connections and innovative solutions to emerge.
“Collaborating with Archway to visit UGArden and engage with the emerging young leaders was an exceptional experience,” Yeedia said. “As the Newton Food Policy Council continues to expand and explore strategies to address food insecurity, this visit provided valuable insights and guidance on effective approaches to this important issue.”
