The beats of the talking drum and Fuji music, a popular Nigerian genre, were the soundtracks of the Juneteenth groundbreaking of The Food Studio, Atlanta’s first Black-owned and 100% plant-based shared commercial kitchen. Located in the Nia Building of Pittsburgh Yards, the incubator space will help aspiring food entrepreneurs create successful business ventures and provide the community with access to healthier food options.
Its mission started with the Urban Oak Initiative, a nonprofit organization that fights obesity, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses by educating the youth on the health benefits of eating more plant-based meals. The organization, formerly Helping Hands Ministry, was founded by Robbie Towns in 1997 to address the basic needs of her local Mississippi church and community. That legacy has continued with her grandson chef Kevin McGee, executive director of the Urban Oak Initiative and founder of The Food Studio.
“We’ve never controlled our food systems since we’ve been in this country. Well, now we have an opportunity to get to control our food systems and control our own outcomes,” McGee said. “Food is the most important thing that we have. It’s the only thing that can really affect everything about us mentally, physically and spiritually, so we’re just excited and humbled to have the opportunity to do so.”
The studio’s site is the former farmland of Clark College’s (now Clark Atlanta University) agricultural department. While doing his research, McGee said he discovered that the vegetables grown there were being served on trains that Black people were likely not allowed on. “They were farming foods that they couldn’t even eat. Well, they’re going to eat what we put in here.”
The kitchen will join the many initiatives and businesses in Atlanta that aim to promote a vegan, healthy lifestyle for the Black community. It will also be able to house up to 30 small plant-based entrepreneurs, some of whom were vendors at the groundbreaking.
“Atlanta has a big vegan community, but it’s not always healthy. We do desserts, but we still do it in a healthy way because everybody needs a treat,” said Natasha Hickman, co-owner of Vegan’s Daughter with her daughter Nylen.
“I think having this space where people are really talking about the benefits of foods, in our community specifically because we don’t tend to eat and then having healthy options [is good]. So, I like the space because we can still cook our food and it can still taste good.”
During the groundbreaking ceremony, representatives, developers, family, and community members who helped him make The Food Studio possible joined McGee.
“Particularly for a day like Juneteenth, it’s really empowering to see this many African American businesses doing their thing, celebrating and using their freedom for good,” McGee said. “People are inspired by something that they see, so we just hope to be the first step in what’s going to be this journey or legacy of healthy eating and healthy service.”