My journey into the world of permaculture and food forests began with a deep concern about the state of modern agriculture. As I learned more about the environmental and social justice issues surrounding industrial farming, I discovered that there was a better way - one that had been practiced for millennia by indigenous peoples around the world.
The more I researched, the more I realized that our current system of monoculture farming is fundamentally broken. We're using about one-third of Earth's land area and 70% of its freshwater for agriculture, yet we still have food insecurity affecting millions of people. Around one-third of all food produced never gets eaten, wasting an amount of land larger than China and about 45 trillion gallons of water every year.
What I discovered was that food forests, also known as forest gardens, offer a sustainable alternative that works with nature rather than against it. These ancient practices, perfected by civilizations like the Maya and indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, created self-sustaining ecosystems that provided food, medicine, and materials for centuries without the need for artificial fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation.
Modern industrial agriculture prioritizes profit over all else, leading to devastating environmental consequences. Monoculture farming depletes soil nutrients, requires massive amounts of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, and destroys biodiversity. The ecological damage extends far beyond the farm - these chemicals wash into our waterways, harming aquatic life and human health.
Beyond the environmental damage, industrial agriculture presents serious environmental justice concerns. It removes people from their place in the food production chain and perpetuates the capitalist treadmill of production, ultimately leading to worse lives for all. The system is designed to maximize profit for a few while externalizing the true costs onto communities and the environment.
Even with the higher productivity that industrial techniques allow, we produce enough food to feed everyone today, but unequal distribution and waste leads to vast food inequality. A community food forest would remove the need for people to rely on Big Agriculture, instead making use of the land already around them.
Food forests work by mimicking natural ecosystems, creating layers of plants that work together to create a self-sustaining system. Unlike monoculture farms that require constant inputs of fertilizers and pesticides, food forests build soil health and biodiversity over time.
The benefits extend far beyond just food production. Food forests can provide:
There are currently over 85 reported food forests being actively maintained in public spaces in the US, with successful examples like the Boston Food Forest Coalition and Tucson's "living pantry" showing what's possible when communities come together to create sustainable food systems.
I initially planned to create a community food forest as my capstone project for my master's degree in Engineering, Sustainability, and Health. However, I realized that my skills as a software engineer could be better used to create a tool that would help many more people start their own food forests.
The challenge I faced was that while there are many excellent resources for food forest design - from books and classes to consulting services - the barrier to entry remains high for beginners. Most people, including myself, don't have the experience or confidence to start designing a food forest from scratch.
I conducted extensive research, including:
What I found was that people most wanted:
My goal with the Forest Garden Planner is to make the entire process of creating a food forest accessible to absolute beginners. If I, as someone who has never grown my own food, can successfully create a food forest using this tool, then I will have succeeded in my mission.
The website will help users:
But beyond just the technical aspects, I hope this tool will help people reconnect with nature and their communities. In a world where we're increasingly disconnected from where our food comes from, food forests offer a way to rebuild those connections while creating more sustainable and resilient communities.
This project represents just the first step on my long journey towards building a more sustainable world. By helping others move away from unsustainable industrial farming and towards their own sustainable forest gardens, I hope to contribute to a future where communities are more self-reliant, connected to nature, and resilient in the face of environmental challenges.
Whether you're an experienced gardener looking to transition to permaculture practices, a complete beginner interested in growing your own food, or someone concerned about the environmental and social impacts of industrial agriculture, I invite you to join me on this journey.
The Forest Garden Planner is still in development, but I'm committed to building a tool that truly serves the needs of people who want to create more sustainable, resilient food systems. Your feedback, suggestions, and participation in this project are invaluable.
Together, we can help bring back the ancient wisdom of food forests and create a more sustainable future for ourselves and generations to come.
As a millennial who has witnessed the societal shift from in-person to digital social interactions, I hesitate to propose yet another technological solution to a problem that isn't technical at its core. However, my approach is also fundamentally different to that of the current strata of technological oligarchs who design their products to pull people away from the world around them and into their digital world in order to maximize page view time, ad exposure, and consumerism. My forest garden planner will be built as a tool to help others be more effective with their time outside in their own forest gardens, promoting a lifestyle built around nature and not our screens. This project represents my commitment to using my skills to help create a more sustainable and just food system. I believe that by making ancient wisdom more accessible with modern technology, we can build a better future for everyone.