Jamila Norman

Jamila Norman, a.k.a. Farmer J from the Magnolia Network series Homegrown, is an Atlanta-based farmer who helps families transform their outdoor spaces into beautiful and functional backyard farms while exploring the joy and benefits of growing your own food.

Jamila is a first generation daughter to Caribbean parents whose history is rooted in agriculture. She is an internationally recognized urban farmer, food activist and mother based in Atlanta, GA.  She is a University of Georgia graduate with a degree in Environmental Engineering. After 10 years in her professional career, Jamila has now committed fully to operating her independent, organic urban farm, Patchwork City Farms, which she founded 2010.  In 2014 she served as a US delegate to Slow Food’s Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, in Turin, Italy.  She and her farm have been featured in various publications, including Modern Farmer Magazine, SeedStock.com, The Library of Congress and the Southern Foodways Alliance oral history project.  Jamila is also one of the founding members and current manager of the South West Atlanta Growers Cooperative (SWAG Coop), formed in 2010 as a cooperative centered around black urban farmers in Atlanta’s burgeoning urban agriculture movement.  SWAG Cooperative exists to strengthen Atlanta’s Black farmers and to create a transformative, environmentally and culturally responsible Atlanta food system that contributes to a robust and equitable high quality of life for its farmers and communities. Most recently, Jamila has joined the board of Georgia Organics, a member supported, non-profit organization connecting organic food from Georgia farms to Georgia families, and is an active member of the Atlanta Farmers Coalition. Jamila is recognized as a Cherry Bombe 100, which is list that celebrates women in food who inspire us every day with their creativity, energy, humanity, and hard work.