Intro The oldest community food forest on the East Coast is hidden on Parks and Recreation property near downtown Asheville, NC. I’m aging myself by revealing this information, but I was at UNC-Asheville when this food forest was being planned and established and I didn’t even know it!! When I…
What is it? A simplistic definition of agroforestry is a sustainable land management system that offers production practices that intentionally integrate trees, crops, and/or livestock. Agroforestry became formerly recognized as a science in the 1970s, but the practices are rooted in traditional farming practices and indigenous knowledge from around the…
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Hazelwood Food Forest in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA is the first community food forest I’m selecting to highlight because sadly it is about to be no more. At least not in physical presence. Hazelwood is an awesome example of a food forest design, but the lease for the…
What is it? A scientific field focused on practices that are sustainable alternatives to mainstream industrial agriculture. Rather than solely focusing on production efficiency and financial profit it is a more holistic approach that takes into consideration social and cultural factors as well as an ecosystem approach to agricultural and…
I’m going to go out on a limb here and try to make an analogy that I hope will help you see food forests the way I do. Food forests, particularly community food forests, are like a passion flower. There are layers that build upon each other, with multiple components…
Welcome to the first blog post of communityfoodforests.com! Let me tell you, in a nutshell, who I am and why I think it is important to create this website. I am a researcher, artist, instructor, student, outdoor enthusiast (more so in warm weather!), dog owner, gardener and lifetime learner among…