Food Forests

The idea of food forests comes from the pre-industrial farming practices of many indigenous peoples. Using the model of a forest system and it’s many layers, these early farmers incorporated food production into existing eco-systems in stark contrast to the “slash and burn” or clear cutting methods of modern agriculture, which requires annual tilling of the soil, and continuous inputs of water, fertilizer, and pesticides to support an unnatural monoculture.

Learning from the wisdom of our ancestors, we can now mimic the context of a forest using edible and medicinal perennial plants.

The benefits of the food forest system work in a dynamic way with the environment so that soil is built not tilled, and it requires much less (if any) weeding, watering or chemical inputs.

Besides being both ecological and practical, food forests can also appeal to an overall sense of beauty, harmony and well being.

http://geofflawton.com/

In 1975, Geoff Lawton discovered a remarkable oasis in the Moroccan desert, a remnant of an ancient sustainable agriculture, the 2000 year old food forest farmed by 800 people. He returned to document it 28 years later. Date palms are the main overstorey species with an understorey of carob, bananas, quince, olives, figs, pomegranates, guava, citrus, mulberries, tamarinds, grapes and many smaller species. He found the food forest to have a wonderful atmosphere – cool, lush, shaded as if he was inside an organism, safe and secure yet surrounded by desert. Imagine a world where desert food forests stretch from North Africa to Central Asia in various forms. Geoff suggests we should document these food forests before all the young farmers migrate to the cities for work and they are lost forever. Our ancestors had a true knowledge of sustainable, extremely long term sustainable multi-species food systems.

Geoff Lawton made the film ‘Establishing a Food Forest’ which explains the patterns of a food forest and then he turns the theory into action, planting the seeds and watching the system grow.

Our Ancestors

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived in the wild woods. They collected the fruits of trees and shrubs, ate an amazing variety of greens and roots from the forest floor and hunted wild animals large and small that shared their ecosystem. Along with the fruits to be gathered from the nearby sea and shore, such as fish, sea-kelp, and crustaceans, the ancient woodland offered humans enough nutrients and medicines to survive and thrive.

Everything was important from the bark of the willow tree which yielded pain-relieving salicylic acid when chewed, to the humble clover which is a treasure chest of nutrients.

Here are some other essential ingredients for the hunter-gatherer’s larder:

Acorns

Oak forests yielded up an important staple to the ancient people that they would have made full use of – acorns. Even today hunter-gatherer tribes will use acorns whenever they are available, even when there are other sources of food. This is because they are very nutritious. They contain carbohydrates, an essential part of the human diet which can’t be obtained from just meat and vegetables. They also contain some protein. 1 oz of acorn meal contains 110 calories, 12 grams of carbohydrate, 7 grams of fat, and is also rich in potassium.

Hazelnuts

Our Mesolithic ancestors roasted and ate hazelnuts in great abundance. Like acorns, hazelnuts also contain fat, as well as carbohydrate, dietary fibre and a good helping of vitamins and potassium. They are an excellent source of magnesium, an extremely important mineral which enables our bodies to perform well under stress. Today’s diet suffers from a lack of magnesium, which can lead to hypertension, osteoporosis and other age-related symptoms.

Hawthorn Berry

The hawthorn berry was very important to our ancestors and would have been assiduously collected. The pulp of the hawthorn berry sets to a jelly-like consistency, and can be dried to make fruit leather, which is surprisingly sweet and delicious. Dried fruit leather keeps for months, if not years, and would have been very welcome in the winter months. Hawthorn berries contain certain antioxidants which are especially useful in preventing the furring of arteries, and are known to help reduce cardiovascular problems such as poor circulation and angina. Germany and Switzerland especially support the use of hawthorn as a complimentary medicine in heart health.

Comfrey

In any wood it won’t be long before you trip over a medicinal plant. Comfrey has to be one of the most effective, but today we pay it little heed. It was once considered the queen of medicinal plants. To our ancestors it went by the name knitbone because the leaves and especially the roots contain an active chemical that accelerates cell regrowth. Extraordinary claims have been made about comfrey. ‘The water of the Greater Comferie druncke, helpeth such as are bursten, and that have broken the bone of the legge.’ So wrote George Baker in his medicinal manual, Newe Jewell of Health, in 1567.

Plantain

When the first European settlers went to America, the native European plantain seemed to sprout up from the soil wherever they walked, and the Native Americans named it ‘White man’s footprint.’ Plantain is not only a great medicine, its leaves are edible. Used in salads they contain high doses of Vitamin C, A and K, and also calcium.

https://youtu.be/hftgWcD-1Nw

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