Edible Arcata: a Gis Perspective for a Local Food-Loving Community in Humboldt County, California
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EDIBLE ARCATA: A GIS PERSPECTIVE FOR A LOCAL FOOD-LOVING COMMUNITY IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIA HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY By Vanessa Mckenna Vasquez A Project Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Social Science: Environment and Community February, 2012 EDIBLE ARCATA: A GIS PERSPECTIVE FOR A LOCAL FOOD-LOVING COMMUNITY IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIA By Vanessa M. Vasquez Approved by the Master’s Project Committee: ____________________________________________________________________ Dr. Noah Zerbe, Committee Chair Date ____________________________________________________________________ Dr. Llyn Smith, Committee Member Date ____________________________________________________________________ Dr. Yvonne Everett, Committee Member Date ____________________________________________________________________ Dr. Elizabeth Watson, Graduate Coordinator Date ____________________________________________________________________ Dr. Jená Burges, Vice Provost Date ABSTRACT EDIBLE ARCATA: A GIS PERSPECTIVE FOR A LOCAL FOOD-LOVING COMMUNITY IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Vanessa M. Vasquez City and local governments across the United States are beginning to implement urban agriculture and edible landscaping policies and planning procedures to address social and environmental sustainability goals. From the Portland City Hall garden to public orchards in San Francisco, landscaping public space with fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and edible plants has gained popularity as an approach to reduce carbon emissions, improve biodiversity, increase food security and contribute to social activities. In March, 2011, the City of Arcata in Humboldt County, California developed Council Goals for 2012 that include development of edible landscaping around parks and new building projects. Utilizing geographic information systems (GIS), this project models potential edible landscaping sites on City owned property. Suitable sites were mapped based on key-informant interviews and spatial analysis of accessibility, nearness to low income housing and proximity to community gathering places. Literature on GIS food system analysis, urban planning, local native food resources and food foraging was reviewed to contextualize maps and discussion. Recommendations for implementation of the edible landscaping goal are presented along with a list of appropriate plants for the climate. This iii undertaking has implications for future research and action including using the findings to influence land use planning for increased diversity within the local food system. Keywords: urban agriculture, geographic information systems (GIS), edible landscaping, urban food foraging, Humboldt County, Arcata, sustainability, city planning iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Study Area ....................................................................................................................... 3 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 7 Local Food Movement and Urban Foraging Popularity ................................................. 7 Local Native Food Systems ........................................................................................... 14 Permaculture, Agroecology and Landscape Design...................................................... 17 Urban Agriculture and Sustainability Frameworks ....................................................... 20 Geographic Information Systems and GIS in food systems analysis ............................ 25 METHODS ....................................................................................................................... 29 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 29 GIS and Spatial Data Process ........................................................................................ 33 Interview Themes and GIS Analysis ............................................................................. 35 ANALYSIS and RESULTS.............................................................................................. 39 Interviews and Spatial Analysis .................................................................................... 39 Recommended Edible Plant List ................................................................................... 53 Limitations of the Analysis ........................................................................................... 53 v DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................... 56 Arcata’s supporting policy- no pesticide ordinance ...................................................... 56 Arcata Educational Farm-Bayside Park ........................................................................ 57 Potential Partners ........................................................................................................... 58 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 63 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 64 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 68 APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................... 73 Appendix A: Recommended Edible Plant List ............................................................. 73 Appendix B: Key-informant Interview Questions ........................................................ 78 Appendix C: Integrating Gardens and Edible Landscapes: City of Arcata ................... 79 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Study Area Locator Map……………………………………………………….6 Figure 2. Methodology Flowchart………………………………………………………28 Figure 3. Suitable Edible Landscaping Sites-Arcata Public Land Map………………...45 Figure 4. Community Centers and Surrounding Area Map……………………………..46 Figure 5. Arcata Elementary School and Surrounding Area Map………………………47 Figure 6. Arcata Neighborhoods below Poverty Level…………………………………48 Figure 7. Suitable Edible Landscaping Sites- Arcata Low Income Neighborhoods……49 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Oakland Food System Assessment Goals………………………………………23 Table 2. Sebastopol Adopt a Landscape Suggested Edible Plants………………………26 Table 3. Geospatial Data Obtained for Analysis………………………………………...31 Table 4. Geospatial Data Created for Analysis………………………………………….35 Table 5. Interview Results- Suggested Edible Landscaping Plants……………………..42 viii 1 INTRODUCTION Growing food within population centers on small plots of land or in village commons is not a new idea. Human societies have long histories of kitchen vegetable plots, war-time “victory” gardens and community orchards. While growing food within the boundaries of an urban or peri-urban community is not a new phenomenon, large scale industrial agriculture and centralized food processing in the “developed” global North has intensified the divide between non-agricultural areas (cities) and agricultural areas (rural communities). Urban agriculture and edible landscaping counters the land- use dichotomy perpetuated by industrial agriculture practices and encourages local food systems to flourish in spaces between sidewalks, on top of roofs and in parks. Urban agriculture is a broad term that often includes forms of educational gardens, home gardens, community gardens, small scale farms, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) models, bee-keeping, animal husbandry and farmer’s markets within city limits (Unger and Wooten, 2006). Edible landscaping is the practice of replacing traditionally ornamental landscaping with edible plants such as fruit bearing trees, berries, herbs and other edibles. Edible landscaping is encompassed within urban agriculture but often has less of a retail market focus. Urban agriculture and edible landscaping are not practices unique to developed countries. Indeed, in many parts of the world, where arable land is scarce or population density is high, growing food in public space, in recycled containers, on doorsteps and 2 with innovative methods is a necessary norm. The United Nations Development Program recently reported 800 million people worldwide are now engaged in urban agriculture, producing between 15 percent to 20 percent of the global food supply (Zuckerman, 2011). Many of these urban agriculturalists are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, in densely packed cities such as Nairobi, or in South East Asian countries with long histories of edible landscaping. As climates change, urbanization increases and access to arable land is reduced, the resourceful knowledge of how to grow food in population centers will become even more valuable.