News Home & Design For a Community Food Forest, Consider a Creative Location For healthy food and a wealth of other tangible and intangible yields, here are some offbeat places to plant a forest garden. By Elizabeth Waddington Elizabeth Waddington Writer, Permaculture Designer, Sustainability Consultant University of St Andrews (MA) Elizabeth has worked since 2010 as a freelance writer and consultant covering gardening, permaculture, and sustainable living. She has also written a number of books and e-books on gardens and gardening. Learn about our editorial process Published May 18, 2023 11:35AM EDT Cavan Images / Getty Images News Environment Business & Policy Science Animals Home & Design Current Events Treehugger Voices News Archive Community food forests are a wonderful thing. No matter where they are located, they can bring numerous benefits for those who live nearby—not just healthy food but also a wealth of other tangible and intangible yields. I have designed and helped with a number of different community food forests, large and small. Today I thought I would share some of the schemes I have been involved with to inspire others to find the right places for food forests near where they live. What Is a Food Forest Simply put, a food forest is a type of garden comprised of edible plants, designed to mimic natural ecosystems. Nature School Food Forest I have worked on several schemes to create food forests designed as nature schools or educational spaces for adults and children alike. A food forest is an ideal location for an outside classroom or for a nature school. Simply the setting itself can make learning more appealing and a lot more fun than sitting inside a stuffy classroom all day long. And there are so, so many lessons that a food forest can teach, and many ways that the environment can be used to shape lessons within the ordinary curriculum. Forest School Is My Kids' New Favorite Place to Go A nature school or outdoor classroom food forest can, of course, be located on the grounds of an existing school. But there may also be an opportunity to turn a brown-field site in a city or town into an additional space for learning and fun. I also know of an instance where an old parking lot was removed next to a school, and a food forest was slowly established on the site. So even in a concrete jungle, spaces for natural education might be found. Street-Side Food Forest Another interesting thing to consider is that food forests do not necessarily have to sprawl out in all directions. They can be just as effective, attractive, and useful when placed, for example, in linear strips along streets or roads in a neighborhood. In one example I worked on, a group of neighbors got together to develop a street-side food forest in a formerly grassy strip alongside a road on the edge of their neighborhood. This not only provided food for the community but also enhanced the walk to school or work for a number of those who live nearby. Though it was council owned, the council allowed the verge to be "adopted" by the local residents on the condition that they maintain it. Inspiration: Victory Gardens During the World Wars, the U.S. government urged citizens to plant their own small vegetable gardens—victory gardens sprouted up everywhere, from public parks to sidewalks. While not food forest gardens, per se, some 20 million families planted victory gardens, growing 40 percent of the country's vegetables by 1944. See more here: Vintage Photos: World War II Victory Gardens Playground Food Forest An existing playground area may also have grassy areas at the side that are the perfect place to put a new food forest for a community. Where the plants are carefully chosen and the planting robust, a food forest can potentially be a great choice for planting in areas that are pretty heavily used. Near a playground, a food forest can be a place for further fun and play for kids, and also, the food forest edge can be a great place for parents to sit and watch over their children while they play. Bike Track Food Forest Another area that might be "wasted" and could usefully be turned into a food forest is the scrubland or grassland often found around an existing BMX track, other bike track, or similar course. This space can be turned into a food forest without hampering the ability to use the track for its intended purpose or impact on the safety of those using it, as long as trees, shrubs, etc. are not too close to the track itself. Accessible Hospital Food Forest Finally, food forests have healing properties that can make them therapeutic spaces for hospitals or other care-providing buildings. Wherever there is a hospital garden or an underutilized space near a caregiving facility, adding a food forest can be a wonderful idea. A boring municipal space on hospital grounds can be turned into a small but very useable and accessible garden and productive space, with wide, level pathways for easy access, seating in lush, green spaces that allow those going through difficult times to relax and find some peace. The scenarios above, from projects that I have worked on as a garden designer, are just a few examples of community food forest ideas. Food forests are not just about food. Thinking about where they can be located and what they might offer to a community can help us to see the wonderful opportunities around us, and how we can all enrich our lives and the lives of others in our communities.