A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States
Community orchards are a type of urban agriculture project bringing fruit- and nut-bearing trees and shrubs to neighborhoods across the U.S. While urban agriculture is receiving substantial attention in food studies literature, community orchards are still largely absent from academic conversations...
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Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems
2017-02-01
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doaj-7c17ac6e68274c3295a27898f20d22a92020-11-25T03:18:49ZengThomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food SystemsJournal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development2152-08012017-02-017210.5304/jafscd.2017.072.002499A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United StatesMegan Betz0Jacob Mills1James Farmer2Indiana University–BloomingtonIndiana University–BloomingtonIndiana University–BloomingtonCommunity orchards are a type of urban agriculture project bringing fruit- and nut-bearing trees and shrubs to neighborhoods across the U.S. While urban agriculture is receiving substantial attention in food studies literature, community orchards are still largely absent from academic conversations. We conducted a qualitative, inductive survey of community orchard organizations in the U.S. to establish a baseline understanding. This survey was addressed to orchard organizers and focused on two questions. First, what is driving the rise of community orcharding projects in the U.S.? Second, how are the organizations affecting local food systems? Organizations were selected to be recipients of our survey, which garnered a 42.64% response rate, if they had an Internet presence and active e-mail account; identification of survey participants was Internet-based, and as a result, little is known about orchards that do not have an Internet presence. Findings showed that community orchards are primarily established on public land, often facilitated by municipal parks and recreation departments, and range in size from pocket orchards of just a few trees to multiple acres of diverse planting. Primary motivations for beginning community orchards include concern for the environment, education, and a sense of community. A preliminary understanding of this impact lies at the nexus of these final two motivations. Community orchard organizers predominately reported fruit and nuts produced in the orchard would feed residents in the geographic area immediately surrounding the site. This arrangement of public fruit and nut production and volunteer orchard management is leading to a novel form of community development that merits further research.https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/499Urban AgricultureLocal FoodCommunity OrchardsCommunity Development |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Megan Betz Jacob Mills James Farmer |
spellingShingle |
Megan Betz Jacob Mills James Farmer A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development Urban Agriculture Local Food Community Orchards Community Development |
author_facet |
Megan Betz Jacob Mills James Farmer |
author_sort |
Megan Betz |
title |
A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States |
title_short |
A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States |
title_full |
A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States |
title_fullStr |
A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States |
title_sort |
preliminary overview of community orcharding in the united states |
publisher |
Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems |
series |
Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
issn |
2152-0801 |
publishDate |
2017-02-01 |
description |
Community orchards are a type of urban agriculture project bringing fruit- and nut-bearing trees and shrubs to neighborhoods across the U.S. While urban agriculture is receiving substantial attention in food studies literature, community orchards are still largely absent from academic conversations. We conducted a qualitative, inductive survey of community orchard organizations in the U.S. to establish a baseline understanding. This survey was addressed to orchard organizers and focused on two questions. First, what is driving the rise of community orcharding projects in the U.S.? Second, how are the organizations affecting local food systems? Organizations were selected to be recipients of our survey, which garnered a 42.64% response rate, if they had an Internet presence and active e-mail account; identification of survey participants was Internet-based, and as a result, little is known about orchards that do not have an Internet presence. Findings showed that community orchards are primarily established on public land, often facilitated by municipal parks and recreation departments, and range in size from pocket orchards of just a few trees to multiple acres of diverse planting. Primary motivations for beginning community orchards include concern for the environment, education, and a sense of community. A preliminary understanding of this impact lies at the nexus of these final two motivations. Community orchard organizers predominately reported fruit and nuts produced in the orchard would feed residents in the geographic area immediately surrounding the site. This arrangement of public fruit and nut production and volunteer orchard management is leading to a novel form of community development that merits further research. |
topic |
Urban Agriculture Local Food Community Orchards Community Development |
url |
https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/499 |
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