When most people hear the term "green infrastructure”, their mind probably goes to highly engineered, technical, and expensive projects like windmills, solar panels, and elaborate approaches to stormwater remediation. Infrastructure such as this is vital, especially if we are to mitigate the effects of climate change in the coming decades.
Though they may be a bit more humble, trees are also a form of green infrastructure– they provide economic and ecological services that improve the livelihoods of humans. But unlike solar panels and permeable pavement, they also provide a unique form of community development, exhibiting the intangible benefits that so many places in the United States long for, and might just require, if they are to be sustained. This quality is especially true when it comes to fruit- and nut-bearing trees.
Through a nationwide preliminary review of community orcharding done by three researchers at Indiana University in Bloomington, it was found that public stands of fruit- and nut-bearing trees hold great potential in fostering community reconnection, while simultaneously feeding neighborhoods and teaching people new skills. And in southeastern Pennsylvania, we’re fortunate enough to have examples of these benefits, and more, in our own backyard.
If you are not aware of what community orchards are, they can be thought of as a cousin to community gardens. They are typically volunteer-run, with volunteers coming from the immediate neighborhood. They crop up in vacant lots and in public grounds, like parks.
The idea of urban agriculture is not a new one. Historically, ‘commons’ were much more likely to be used for agriculture, even in urban places. People would graze their animals on common land, forage for food, and harvest firewood. Of course, it wasn’t all idyllic, as people were also dumping sewage out of their windows and into the streets (although it was the ‘commoning’ of sewer systems that resolved this problem). Regardless, over time, our conception of what common areas can be used for has been severely limited. In many areas of the United States, fertile commons were often surrendered to the forces of market capitalism. Forest commons fell victim to logging companies, and practically any land that looked vacant was at risk of development by railroad companies and others, even if people were in fact inhabiting it.
Still today, real estate developers, and oftentimes municipal governments themselves, would rather build up a lot than turn it into a common space. As the world’s population increases, there’s no doubt that our communities will need more housing and more resources, meaning more development. But there are thoughtful ways to approach this evolution, and it could be argued that in order for communities to be well-rounded, they must include greenspaces where people can commune and form meaningful attachments with their neighbors and the land they inhabit. In urban planning, this ideology is included in a philosophy known as ‘Placemaking’: seeing cities and towns holistically, as places that should be beautiful, experimental, functional, long-lasting, and creative rather than treated as purely functional, mechanistic, and subsequently characterless, systems.
Even when a community is able to protect a vacant lot or common area from capitalistic endeavors, there are often bureaucratic hurdles that must also be overcome by people looking to reform these spaces. Every municipality has preconceived notions about what a good public space should encapsulate. What’s in vogue now tends to be lots of open space that is free of leaf litter and debris, with cropped turfgrass and minimal opportunities for troublemaking. This last notion, as well as economic and public health struggles, have contributed to the closure of hundreds of public restrooms, water fountains, playgrounds, and a lack of public trashcans in numerous cities across the United States. An obsession with order and neatness has also led to a lack of fruit and nut trees being planted in public places, as they are typically seen as messy nuisances.
Dr. Anna Barker writes about the way an excessive number of rules can lead to the alienation of people within a community, and advocates instead for 'mediated conviviality'. Her concept of mediation recognizes the need for facilitated social order through laws and regulation, but encourages policymakers to utilize responsive and pragmatic regulation, lest overregulation leads to feelings of exclusion or too-strict space regimentation. And in the 2022 article “Overcoming the tragedy of the urban commons”, Mare Knibbe and Klasien Horstman reach a similar conclusion to Barker, finding that too much regulation leads to confusion over whether or not local governments are supportive of collective projects, leading to the underuse of parks as a whole.
Due to this management style of common spaces, it is literally just harder for some people to go outdoors. Though these are public spaces, many feel left out of the conversation of how they should be run, and possibly even feel alienated from them altogether. When people feel too discouraged to commune, we lose a natural form of community awareness and security, as it is generally understood that the safest parks and streets are the ones with the most people. Sometimes in scarcely used parks, things devolve even further– as parks become neglected, they run the risk of turning into literal dumping grounds. Perhaps worst of all, we lose out on opportunities to get to know those around us and find joy in small interactions, which arguably creates a more lonely, frustrated society.
But what does all of this have to do with food-bearing trees and public orchards? Unlike annual vegetables, perennial fruit and nut trees require years of care before they start producing significant amounts of food. They are also a big investment compared to vegetables, which can function as an incentive to keep them alive until they reach maturity. Those years of care mean that it’s likely many people will interact with the trees, and some may even be compelled to volunteer their own time to learn and care about them. Thus, a cycle of community education and cooperation can begin, with one steward training another steward, who can train another, and so on. The trees become a living attraction, the same way a fountain or playground encourages people to come to a park. There is also the obvious benefit of delicious, fresh fruits and nuts. For some, planting a specific fruit tree that is culturally significant to them is the only way to reliably have access to that fruit. In this way, other people in the community may be exposed to a new culture and discover new foodstuffs to love. Community orchards are a fantastic way to preserve traditional ecological knowledge of growing and processing food that has been slipping through the cracks of the Technological Age, and it reminds people of the effort and emotion that goes into feeding the world. For many in urban environments, the food they eat comes from hundreds or thousands of miles away, but this doesn’t have to be the only way we get fed!
I encourage you to explore the resources below and search for a community orchard near you. Where I live in South Philadelphia, there aren’t any official orchards (as far as I know). Nonetheless, fig trees abound, being grown on school grounds, sprawling from peoples’ front yards onto the sidewalk, serving as centerpieces in community gardens, and even being planted as street trees (although the city may disapprove of this, the tree still stands!). My neighbors here don't seem to have much of an issue with some figs dropping on the ground and making a bit of a mess, as long as they get to eat some figs in return. If we do desire a future that’s more sustainable, there needs to be a cultural shift not only in what we tolerate, but also in what we ask of our local governments. Modeling our desires through action is a fantastic and fulfilling way to facilitate that change.
Sources:
Barker, A. (2017). Mediated Conviviality and the Urban Social Order: Reframing the Regulation of Public Space. The British Journal of Criminology, 57(4), 848-866. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azw029
Betz, M., Mills, J., & Farmer, J. (2017). A preliminary overview of community orcharding in the United States. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 7(2), 13–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2017.072.002
Farr, M. (2022, October 12). Cities Are Planting Trees. Why Not Make Them Fruit Trees?. Next City. https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/cities-are-planting-trees-why-not-make-them-fruit-trees
Knibbe, M. & Horstman, K. (2022). Overcoming the tragedy of urban commons: Collective practices for a healthy city ecology in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Health & Place, 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102777
Rinde, M. (2018, May 31). Where’s the restroom? In city parks, there may be nowhere to go. WHYY. https://whyy.org/articles/wheres-the-restroom-in-city-parks-there-may-be-nowhere-to-go/
Other resources:
Philadelphia Orchard Project: https://www.phillyorchards.org/
Fair Amount Food Forest in Philadelphia: https://www.fairamountfoodforest.org/
Comments