The Place of Community Food Forests: a Review and Case Study of Community Food Forests and Their Untapped Potential
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2021 THE PLACE OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS: A REVIEW AND CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS AND THEIR UNTAPPED POTENTIAL Sarah Eiden University of Montana, Missoula Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Eiden, Sarah, "THE PLACE OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS: A REVIEW AND CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS AND THEIR UNTAPPED POTENTIAL" (2021). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11745. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11745 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PLACE OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS: A REVIEW AND CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS AND THEIR UNTAPPED POTENTIAL By SARAH MARIE EIDEN B.A. International Relations, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 2012 Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Resource Conservation Option in International Conservation and Development W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation The University of Montana Missoula, MT May 2021 Approved by: Scott Whittenburg, Dean of The Graduate School Graduate School Dr. Keith Bosak, Committee Chair Department of Society and Conservation Dr. Sarah J. Halvorson, Committee Member Department of Geography Caroline Stephens, Committee Member Department of Environmental Studies ABSTRACT Eiden, Sarah Marie, M.S., May 2021 Resource Conservation The Place of Community Food Forests: a review and case study of community food forests and their untapped potential Chairperson: Dr. Keith Bosak As population grows, the borders of urban and peri-urban areas continue to expand. The UN projects that by 2050 more than 68% of the world population is expected to live in urban areas (UN, 2018). Presently, urban centers are heterotrophic, or highly consumptive of products produced elsewhere, making them one of the most pressing challenges to global sustainability (Wu, 2008). With an ever-increasing imperative for more sustainable food production, multi-use edible green landscapes and other autotrophic, or self-feeding urban agriculture initiatives, are gaining attention and creative practice to incorporate a diversity of ecosystem services (ES). Community food forests (CFF) are novel pieces of this emergent place-based food system (PbFS). To validate the call to incorporate CFF within a PbFS, I establish a framework for analyzing the tangible and intangible ES of these systems as an alternative to the industrial model by working towards goals of sustainability, equity, food citizenship, and place-building. I continue this framework by introducing the ES typology to understand the multifaceted benefits available from a landscape. In chapter two I present a scoping review of CFF in literature and practice. I apply the PbFS and ES typologies to expose the limitations of our scholarly inclusion of CFF as pieces of a larger system. This review exposes the gap that exists between our academic approach with the purpose and intentions of CFF currently in practice. To answer the call proposed in chapter two for a scholarly investigation of the perceived and actual value of CFF to a community of users, I apply a place-based ecosystem assessment to 6th Ward Garden Park, a CFF in Helena, MT. This case study highlights the importance of CFF to meet cultural services needs within a community while working towards the larger goals of PbFS. The case study identifies CFF as systems of stacked ES benefits while identifying specific ES that serve as doorways for deeper use and community benefit. Looking forward, this case study provides a working model for assessing user perceptions and values of CFF as a way to assess their role in addressing the wider vision PbFS. Key Words: Community Food Forest, Place-based Food Systems, Place-based assessment of ecosystem service ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must acknowledge that this research would not have been possible without the openness and kindness of the community and users at 6th Ward Garden Park in Helena, Montana. Thank you for your honesty and your openness. To the Advisory Committee and Diana, thank you for your warmth and invitation into this landscape. To all community food forests that inspired this research, I hope these findings are both useful and motivational. The space to develop and explore the world of place-based food systems was made possible by Dr. Keith Bosak, whose encouragement and freedom has transformed the trajectory of my life. You provided a calm and gentle guidance throughout this process, challenging me towards deeper degrees of connection and meaning. Committee member Dr. Sarah Halverson provided invaluable direction and guidance early in the early development of this research process. Your commitment to robust research made this project a reality, thank you. Committee member Caroline Stephens introduced me to the world of farming, the fundamental experience that fuels this research. Thank you for introducing me to a world that has so long felt inaccessible. For providing a space for theories and frameworks to become practice I am grateful beyond words to the partnership between Garden City Harvest and the University of Montana at the PEAS farm. This research would not have been possible without the four-semester research assistantship sponsored by the US Forest Service International Programs, thank you for your continued support. And finally, to my sisters, you have been my steady rock and best friends, you gave me courage to begin again. To my family, friends, and the public lands of Montana, you have renewed me with life and joy. Thank you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................................................. VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................................... VII CHAPTER 1. COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS AND GUIDING FRAMEWORK .................................................. 1 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND: ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES & QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................ 4 2. GUIDING FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 PBFS ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 PbFS: Alternative food system theories and practice..................................................................... 7 2.2 FOOD FOREST UNIFYING FACTORS .............................................................................................................. 12 2.3 UN MEA TYPOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 13 3. SOURCES ............................................................................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER 2: SCOPING REVIEW OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS: IN STUDY AND IN PRACTICE ............... 20 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 20 2. METHODS ........................................................................................................................................... 21 2.1 DOCUMENT SEARCH ................................................................................................................................. 21 2.2 DOCUMENT SELECTION .............................................................................................................................. 22 3.3 CLASSIFICATION AND CATEGORIZATION CRITERIA ............................................................................................ 23 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 25 3.1: PEER- REVIEWED ARTICLES SELECTED ........................................................................................................... 25 3.1.2 Reviews ........................................................................................................................................ 27 3.1.3: Provisioning