URBAN FOOD FORESTS: EVALUATING ECOLOGICAL-HUMAN CONNECTIVITY AND RIGHTS TO ACCESS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: MCINTIRE-STENNIS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1020123
• Project Start Date: Jul 8, 2019
• Project End Date: Dec 31, 2021
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK
(N/A)
SYRACUSE,NY 13210

Performing Department
Environmental & Forest Biology

Non Technical Summary
A team of researchers and practioners will consider the intersection of access to food and ecology in an urban setting, Syracuse, New York. We will look at how edible landscapes, such as urban food forests, can feed people and provide habitat for wildlife. We will will assess how these ecosystems provide other services to humans, like clean air and water; who has access to these service; and how we can grow better food ecosystems in urban settings that are inclusive of all peoples and lead to healthy ecosystems. We will also create school curriculum that will allow us to teach effectively about urban forests, wildlife, and food.

Animal Health Component

80%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

80%

Developmental

10%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
124	0320	1070	33%
125	0320	1070	33%
704	0320	1070	34%

Knowledge Area
125 - Agroforestry; 124 - Urban Forestry; 704 - Nutrition and Hunger in the Population;

Subject Of Investigation
0320 - Watersheds;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

food security

urban ecosystem

urban forest

agroforestry

food forest

social justice

biological consersation

Goals / Objectives
This pilot project begins to address human-ecological connectivity in urban food forests through three interrelated research questions that reflect the interdisciplinary team and approach:How can edible landscapes contribute to ecological function and services of urban forests?How can urban food forests be designed as a connected network of diverse, novel ecologies that include parks, undeveloped areas, community gardens and urban farms, and interstitial spaces?How can responsible community co-governance of public and private urban landscapes provide stable tenure/access to food producing land, forest, and water resources?To answer these research questions and add to the structure necessary to continue this work long-term, this project has the objectives to:1. Assess potential ecological services2. Analyze human use and community access3. Design system strategies4. Plan for urban food forest right of access5. Develop curriculum that integrates urban food forest studies

Project Methods
Objective 1 Assessing Potential Ecological Services. To determine needs for ecological services (e.g., wildlife pollination and human provisioning) and to support edible landscapes in urban areas, this project will complete three tasks along a non-linear transect of 100 m width between Velasco Road and Kirk Park following both Elmwood and Onondaga Creek corridors in Syracuse, New York. Transect includes diversity of: landscapes, including micro-forests, school, neighborhood, and open park; and demography, embracing diversity of household income, race, and ethnicity. Task 1.1 Tree selection. Using the Syracuse urban forest database, "Davy treekeeper", and in collaboration with Steve Harris, Syracuse City Arborist, and Kat Korba, Cornell Cooperative Extension, trees will be identified and categorized according to potential as edible species for humans: nut, fruit, sap, or leaf. Up to ten species will be selected based on adequate representation within the transect to allow for evaluation. All individuals of selected species will be part of further analysis. Task 1.2 Literature review. For each selected species, literature will be reviewed to determine species needs as well as bird, insects, human use. ESF peer ornithology, entomology, and botany faculty will be consulted regularly. Literature and consultation will help determine species adaptation to, and pollination needs in, Syracuse's temperate urban forest. Birds' and insects' needs for these tree species will be determined, including nesting, breeding, and feeding. Task 1.3 Ecological influence radii and leveraging seed research. For each individual in Task 1.1, gradient radii will be drawn from near the individual to outside the need radius (Task 1.2) for bird and insect needs, and pollination. Isolated trees will be marked for design work (Obj3). Field testing will be developed and proposed for further study to determine whether literature values are appropriate for urban ecosystems and to establish baseline understanding of current urban ecosystem conditions given environmental and climate change. Objective 2 Analyzing Human Use and Community access. Project team with 3 selected and trained neighborhood community researchers will document and analyze patterns of human access and engagement with the ecological systems in transect. Task 2.1 Mapping use and access. Field observation will record access and use patterns through worn paths, physical use remnants, constructed elements, etc. 10 key informants (snowball sampling) will be interviewed for descriptions of use, perceptions of areas, knowledge of local ecology and edible species. Transcripts of the interviews will be coded to identify themes. Descriptions of use will be located and mapped. Task 2.2 Community food walks. The project team will conduct three public walks along transect to: engage the community; gather information about knowledge and use of urban edibles; and test education and public awareness strategies. Objective 3 Designing System Strategies. Design phase assesses critical relationships between ecological flows and human use/access in transect corridor. Task 3.1 Connectivity analysis. Plan views and cross sections will be used to synthesize ecological influence radii and human use data to identify spatial patterns of connectivity and access in the system of ecological flows and community access to the existing edible urban forest- critical links, gaps, intersections. This will also identify needs and potentials for design. Task 3.2 System design. Based on needs and potential analysis, team will develop design intervention strategies to increase connectivity in the system including planting, management, and community engagement. Transect framework plan will illustrate how strategies interrelate and identify key indicators to measure system performance. Objective 4 Planning for Urban Food Forest Right of Access. Task 4.1 Literature review. Literature on urban food forests will be reviewed with particular attention to co-governance strategies that address right of access and tenure sustainability for marginalized human groups and identified tree species. Task 4.2 Identification co-governance stakeholders. Project team with 3 selected and trained neighborhood community researchers will identify, interview, and diagram/ map public, private, and private non-profit governance authorities (and claims) in transect to identify common and divergent expectations for transect area land use. Task 4.3 Stakeholder cooperative planning. Co-governance stakeholders will be brought together 3 time to review governance claims and land use expectations with goals: a) education, urban food forest potential; b) initiate coherent, collaborative plan for sustainable urban food forest with right of resident access; c) identifying benchmarks and indicators to monitor urban land and forest tenure security especially for local residents and marginalized groups; d) launch principles of responsible public/private investment that support right of access to urban food forests; e) identify existing, and initiate new, mechanisms to deal with infringements of right of access to urban food forests, prevent related tenure disputes, and safeguard legitimate right of access. Task 4.4 Urban food forest recommendations. Recommendations will be derived from synthesized data (Obj 1-4) and stakeholders' feedback. Objective 5 Curriculum Development to Integrate Urban Food Forests Task 5.1 Urban food forests in the curriculum. Selected graduate and undergraduate classes of the project's principal and co- investigators will include approximately 2 weeks on urban food forests in curriculum design, incorporating the Syracuse practical case study.Classes that Will Incorporate Urban Food Forest StudySem'sterDiemont (ESF)Potteiger (ESF)Bellows (Syracuse U)FallEFB 434 & 634 Ecosystem Restoration DesignLSA 496 Food System Planning/Design/PolicyFST 403 & 603 Right to Food & NutritionSpringEFB518 Systems Ecology: Modeling & DesignLSA 470: Food System Design StudioFST 312 Emergency Food SystemsTask 5.2 Project inclusion of undergraduate and graduate students. Particularly strong undergraduate and graduate students will be identified and recruited as assistants for ongoing urban food forest research. Exceptional students will be encouraged to present their research publically and pursue independent research on generated project data, where appropriate. Task 5.3 Invited Speaker/Consultant. We will invite an urban food forest expert 2 times for public lecture (students and community) and project consultation. Pitfalls, alternatives, limitations, precautions: If inadequate tree individuals present to suggest pollination and wildlife pathways for some species, we will reduce specie scope (Obj1). If co-governance stakeholders are not all available for all planned meetings, results and recommendations will reflect limitations (Obj4). Obj 5 may require more or less than 2 weeks time and may inspire shared lectures.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this project and associated efforts are: 1) Students in college courses at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) and Syracuse University (SU) Guest lectures and panels provided by all project PI's in each otthers college courses at ESF and SU. This thematic cross-polination reached 6 additional courses. 3 project personnel participated in this effort. Approximately 100 students were reached. 2) Community members within the study corridor a. Interviews were conducted with 20 community members from Syracuse, New York to better understand how food forest can be designed to meet project needs. The Southside neighborhood, where this project resides, has a population that is over 50% minority. b. Wild edible food walks (2) were led with community members to describe food forest harvesting. These walks were recorded and live-shared on Zoom. Over 25 participants joined remotely for each walk. Due to Covid in-person participation was limited to under 10 people. c. Designs were completed for food forest within the study area that would meet wildlife, human access, and food sovereignty goals 3) Scientific community researching complex local food systems, ecosystem function, and ecosystem services. a. Bird community assessment was conducted associated with forest treas that could be also harvested by humans. This assessment will form the basis of a scientific article about wildlife use of edible fruit trees in urban areas. One graduate student and three undergraduate students participated in this research. Both graduate and undergraduate students were women, who are historically underrepresented in STEM fields. b. Interviews were conducted with food forest practitioners and researchers in the US and Europe. This research formed the basis for a poster presentation at a conference and the basis for an academic manuscript about food forest design. 4) Small-business leaders within the Syracuse, New York Southside Neighborhood a. The project team began working with community members who own small businesses in introducing edible wild foods as feed stock. Business owners are African American. 5) Syracuse, New York government, including Neighborhood and Business Development and Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs a. The project team began working with two Syrcuse city departments to explore planting food forest to provide ecosystem services and business opportunitues 6) Non-profit organizations concerned with neighborhood well-belling, youth programs, and food security. a. We collaborated with 5 non-profit groups in writing 2 proposals to federal sources for additional funding to support developement of food forest in Syracuse. Both the projects and non-profits serve minority populations. Changes/Problems: In-person interviews and foraging field walks with community were all canceled (COVID). SU-IRB amendment for remote interviewing. Remote field walk methodology developed. ESF Research Fdn and Safety Office reviewed/approved field plan, May 2020, revised for COVID. June conference presentation (Bellows-Agriculture, Food and Human Values/Association for the Study of Food in Society) canceled. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided training for 3 graduate students and 5 undergraduate students. Research from this project will be the basis for 2 master's theses and two undergraduate Honors Program theses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from this project have thus far been disseminated through an online panel discussion primarily locally to the city of Syracuse community. Results were shared at a national food studies conference, which was also remote, due to Covid restrictions, as a poster presentation at the10th International Conference on Food Studies. Results were futher disseminated at the International Association for Landscape Ecology, North American Region, annual meeting. As part of community outreach a description of the project was published in a local online community newspaper. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Obj1 Assessing Eco-Services. Task 1.3 Eco-influence radii & leveraging seed research. Trees & herbaceous species identified in 8 locations in subtransect sampling, completed once seasonally - fall 2020, spring & summer 2021; expanded June 2020 with bird sampling in 2 food forest tree species. Bird analysis will be conducted during Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, and methods will be expanded to bee sampling in Spring and Summer 2021. Obj2 Analyzing Human Use, Community access. Community researchers & face-to-face interviews excluded (COVID). Task 2.1 Mapping use & access. Prelim field observations (fall 2020) record human access, use. Continued Summer 2021. Final maps will be generated. Task 2.2 Community food walks. Community food walks will be continued. Wild tea walk and maple walk are planned for Spring 2021 Obj3 Designing System Strategies. To assess relationships between eco-flows & human use/access in transect corridor. Task 3.1 Connectivity analysis. Design phase will continue with project team and classes. Final mapping of ecological and community patterns will be completed. Obj4 Planning for UFF Right of Access. Task 4.2 Identification co-governance stakeholders. Database under development. Remote interviews with stakeholders. Task 4.3 Stakeholder cooperative planning. Planned for yr2 based on 4.1, 4.2. Task 4.4 UFF recommendations. Final design plns for productive ecological systems and community access. Planned for yr2 based on synthesized data (Obj 1-4), stakeholder feedback. Obj5 UFFs in Curriculum Task 5.1 UFFs in curriculum. 2 weeks UFF focus in 3 SU, 4 ESF classes with lectures, assignments, field walks, guest speakers. Guests lectures will continue. Task 5.2 Student inclusion. ESF & SU-UGs, grads recruited. Currently 2 grad and 5 undergraduates are part of the project.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj1 Assessing Eco-Services. Task 1.1 Tree selection. Syracuse urban forest database, "Davy Treekeeper", reviewed with City specialists. Trees selected: Mulberry, service berry. Task 1.2 Literature review. By category: food systems, governance, foraging, birds, people's access/tenure, design, risks, food justice, ecosystem services, urban forest management, landscape infrastructure Task 1.3 Eco-influence radii & leveraging seed research. Trees & herbaceous species identified in 8 locations in subtransect sampling, completed once seasonally - fall 2019, spring & summer 2020; expanded June 2020 with bird samplint in 2 food forest tree species. Obj2 Analyzing Human Use, Community access. Community researchers & face-to-face interviews excluded (COVID). Task 2.1 Mapping use & access. Prelim field observations (fall 2019) recorded human access, use. Continued Summer 2020. Prelim maps generated. Task 2.2 Community food walks. No public walks (COVID). Revised methodology for on-line virtual walks; promote with neighborhood and school listservs. Obj3 Designing System Strategies. To assess relationships between eco-flows & human use/access in transect corridor. Task 3.1 Connectivity analysis. Design phase begun with project team and classes. Preliminary mapping of ecological and community patterns complete. Task 3.2 System design. Design intervention strategies to increase connectivity in the system including planting, management, and community engagement begun. Developing system diagrams of eco-zones as basis for planting & management design strategies. Obj4 Planning for UFF Right of Access. Task 4.1 Literature review. Up-to-date with ongoing development annotated bibliography, subject reports (e.g. governance, birds). Task 4.2 Identification co-governance stakeholders. Database under development. Remote interviews with stakeholders. Task 4.3 Stakeholder cooperative planning. Planned for yr2 based on 4.1, 4.2. Task 4.4 UFF recommendations. Planned for yr2 based on synthesized data (Obj 1-4), stakeholder feedback. Obj5 UFFs in Curriculum Task 5.1 UFFs in curriculum. 2 weeks UFF focus in 3 SU, 4 ESF classes with lectures, assignments, field walks, guest speakers. Task 5.2 Student inclusion. ESF & SU-UGs, grads recruited. 2 with add'l funding. Task 5.3 Invited Speaker. March plans canceled (COVID). 17 Apr remote symposium-2 int'l UFF experts & Syracuse City arborist.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Campus Presentation: Remote Urban Food Forest symposium, 17 April, with Marla Emery (US Forest Service), Catherine Bukowski (UFF author we are reading), Steve Harris (Syracuse City Arborist, Dept Parks and Recreation) 30 participants
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Conference Presentation (accepted): Undergrad SUFFP member, Sierra Endreny The Governance of Urban Food Forests: A Comparative Study of Select Northeast US Cases. 10th International Conference on Food Studies, Marymount Manhattan College, NYC, 15-16 October 2020.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Conference Presentation. Potteiger, Matthew. Eating Ecologies: Designing Productive Landscape Systems. for Special symposium on Borderless Landscapes: Envisioning Sustainable Urban/Rural mixed landscapes for agri-activities/lands, at International Association for Landscape Ecology, North American Region, Toronto, May 14.

Progress 07/08/19 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two student research assistants were hired at the completion of this hiring period, who will benefit by learning both social and ecological field skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Assess potential ecological services a. Field visits will be conducted both in fall and spring to assess plant community in the study area. b. Literature will be reviewed to consider food forest and bird community. c. Bird community will be assessed in the study area. 2. Analyze human use and community access a. Protocol will be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board for human subjects b. Stakehold groups will be interviewed. 3. Design system strategies a. Design studios will be held as part of Landscape Architecture coursework at both undergraduate and graduate levels b. Design studies will be held as part of Restoration Ecology coursewrk at both the undergraduate and graduate levels 4. Plan for food forest rights to access a. Design studies will be conducted as described above b. Food Studies classroom exercises will consider food forest c. Interviews described above will be incorporated into design work described above. 5. Develop curriculum that considers food forests. a. Interdisciplinary classroom exercises in Landscape Architecture, Restoration Ecology, and Food Studies will consider how each utilizes food forest b. Current coursework witll incorporate disciplines from other team members, such as classroom visits, and interdisciplinary exercises, that will be considered for a permanent part of coursework.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The project period reported here provided for start-up organization, assessment of potential study sites, literature review, meeting with potential hires, and generally beginning project activities. Research assistants were hired at the completion of the start-up period. Field visits were planned, which were completed in the following month. Organizational meetings took place among the project team. A database was created of literature appropriate to each goal of the project. Each goal of the project benefitted from the planned hiring and literature review, as well as field visits completed later.

Publications