Khari Diop on Community Composting: A Georgia Climate Digest Interview

Chapters

00:00 Meet Khari Diop 

00:36 A Day in the Life of an Urban Farmer and Composter 

03:23 Why Khari Is So Passionate About Composting and Urban Ag 

05:57 Meeting Corrine Coe and Co-Founding Terra Nova 

06:17 Honoring the Legacy of Black Urban Growers in Atlanta 

09:11 How a Drawdown Georgia Grant Helped Launch Westside Compost 

17:15 Goals for the Future of Community Composting 

20:20 Drawdown Georgia’s Home Composting Toolkit 

22:42 Advice for Composting Beginners 

23:00 What’s Giving Khari Diop Hope

Do you think of composting as something magical and majestic? If not, this conversation with expert community composter and urban farmer Khari Diop will change your mind.

In this edition of the Georgia Climate Digest interview series, host Eriqah Vincent talks with Khari Diop about what inspired his 27-year career in community organizing, urban agriculture, and composting. Khari also shares tips for novices interested in getting started with gardening and composting at home.

What Does a Day in Khari Diop’s Life Look Like?

Khari splits his week between building out Historic Westside Gardens’ operation at Elm Street Farm, managing the Food Well Alliance’s community composting lab at Truly Living Well, and tending his own urban farms, all while raising four children. It’s a demanding schedule, but one rooted in nearly three decades of hands-on work across metro Atlanta’s community gardening movement.

How Did Khari Fall in Love with Composting?

Khari traces his fascination with composting back to 2011, building a community garden in East Lake, where a farmers market manager named Corrine Coe, a self-described “compost guru,” opened his eyes to what he calls the magic and majesty of composting. That relationship led Khari to co-found the compost cooperative Terra Nova, and eventually to a career spent honoring what he calls Sankofa work, reclaiming traditional foodways that were stigmatized through slavery.

How Did a Drawdown Georgia Grant Help Launch Westside Compost?

A Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grant helped upgrade the infrastructure of the community composting lab and launch Westside Compost, a community-based enterprise that picked up a full ton of food waste from residents in a single month. Khari describes it as one of his proudest accomplishments, turning what was once considered waste into a recognized community resource.

Whether you’re a longtime grower or just starting your first compost pile, this conversation is a reminder that, as Khari puts it, “you have the power to create new earth.”

What You’ll Learn

• What a typical day looks like for a working urban farmer and community composter.
• How Khari’s fascination with composting began, and how he co-founded the compost cooperative Terra Nova.
• Why Khari connects his work to Sankofa, the Akan concept of reclaiming what was taken.
• How a Drawdown Georgia grant helped launch the Westside Compost Project.
• What’s inside Drawdown Georgia’s home composting toolkit, which Khari co-authored.
• Practical advice for anyone who wants to start composting or growing at home.
• What gives Khari Diop hope about climate solutions in Georgia.

Continue reading in our companion blog for additional highlights from Khari’s conversation about community composting and urban agriculture in Atlanta.

Download the Interview Transcript

Prefer to read the conversation instead? Download the complete PDF transcript of this interview with Khari Diop to explore his insights on composting, urban agriculture, and food sovereignty.