Hundreds of people and thousands of plants embraced below freezing temperatures on Saturday morning to attend "The Incredible Edible, Grow-It-Yourself, Fruit Tree, Vine, and Berry Bush Sale," the second annual fundraiser to benefit the Atlanta Local Food Initiative (ALFI). 

The Atlanta Community Food Bank Annex was bustling with activity as more than 70 volunteers coordinated the sale and distribution of 5,000 edible plants. There were 40 varieties including apples, figs, persimmons, blueberries, blackberries, plums, kiwi and more. 

Cafe Campesino provided coffee, hot chocolate and pastries for the cold crowd as shoppers explored numerous booths featuring planting supplies and community gardening information. The UGA Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners hosted planting demos and plant experts were scattered throughout the venue offering advice to buyers. 

Though the sale helps fund the ALFI, it is also used as a platform to encourage Georgia residents to practice sustainable gardening by utilizing native plants that need no chemicals to flourish. That meant no peach trees, as they are especially susceptible to pests that require chemical treating. 

After the response to last year's inaugural sale, ALFI doubled their supply of plants and added an online pre-order option, which sold 25 percent of the plants before the event began. If there are any plants left over after the sale, they will be available for purchase at Farmer D Organics, which will also be hosting a workshop on growing fruit on Jan. 23.

Michael Wall, spokesman for Georgia Organics, discussed the importance of local growing.

"What if we run out of oil?" he said. "Food trucks won't be making it here from California. We need to be able to grow our own (food)."

Wall also shared a startling statistic from a recent study conducted by the University of Georgia. He said that if every household in Georgia spent at least $10 a week on Georgia grown food, 1.9 billion dollars would be pumped back into Georgia's economy each year. The study also showed that Georgia is far behind the rest of the nation in the amount of locally grown food consumed by residents, he said.

One customer was Rashid Nuri, who runs Truly Living Well, an organization in its sixth season of supporting local community gardens and gardeners around Atlanta. Nuri purchased more than 100 plants at the sale and hopes to begin a communal orchard with them.