Owner of Restaurant Eugene and local food advocate, Gina Hopkins, founded Wholesome Wave in 2009 with support from co-founders, Judith Winfrey, Jonathan Tescher, and Kate Barney. Dominique Love, Founder of Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, introduced Gina, Judith, Jonathan, and Kate to Michel Nischan, President of Wholesome Wave, after working closely with Michel on Food & Wine’s Grow For Good campaign. Dominique saw the incredible opportunity to expand Michel’s work of affordable and local food security programming to Georgia.
With the generous financial support of Wholesome Wave and Atlanta’s Ellis Hotel, the founding and co-founding members launched Wholesome Wave in 2009 as a state-wide chapter of Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program (DVCP), the program now known as Fresh for Less. Today, Wholesome Wave is its own nonprofit organization, operating independently from Wholesome Wave but with continued support and guidance from the national organization.
