Freedom Food Atlanta

Valerie Goldston is the First Lady of Freedom Food in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast as Chair of Gourmet Services Inc., launched by her late husband Nathaniel in 1974 to serve students at HBCUs. As she told us during 31 Ways 31 Days last August, she is now launching a fast casual restaurant brand. The firm maintained more than 170 employees through the pandemic, according to their PPP loan filing.

Atlanta is the number two market for Freedom Food in Say Grace and Wipe Yo’ Hands: BlackRestaurant.NET Guide to America’s Black Restaurants with $3 billion spent on out of home and home purchases yearly.

 

Atlanta area Rep. David Scott is the first African-American chair of the House Agriculture Committee and worked with Sen. Raphael Warnock to gain the $5 billion loan forgiveness and investment in Black farrmers.

Cornelius Blanding is the executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, which coordinates more than 70 groups of farmers across the South. With Black land ownership having fallen from 8 million in 1960 to 2.3 million currently, Blanding has been at the forefront of legislation to provide fairness in agriculture policy.