Skip the supermarket: How all your fruit and veg could grow in one forest

Today is International Day of Forests. That’s when the United Nations celebrate our many functions of the world’s forests. They’re a vital energy source and play a key role in agriculture.

Academics at Lincoln have spent many years researching our forests. More recently, those in the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce and Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences turned their attention to an unusual kind of forest with huge potential – a food forest.

Growing a range of foods in one forest is not a new idea, but is relatively new to the Western world. Senior Lecturer Dr Jorie Knook, along with Whanake Ake Lecturers Hiraina Tangiora and Dr Chrystal O’Connor are co-leading a project to grow our own food forest at Lincoln. They’re all fellows of Lincoln’s Centre of Excellence for Transformative Agribusiness, which is dedicated to improving sustainability in the food and fibre sectors.

The trio aim to better understand food forests and help spread them across Canterbury and New Zealand.

Let’s take a step back. What is a food forest?

Imagine growing ten, twenty or even hundreds of plants in one small plot of forest land. You can grow different types of food and herbs on different layers, resulting in a healthy and stable ecosystem. It mimics a natural forest, but the selection of crops and plants has been carefully curated.

Jorie, Hiraina and Chrystal are researching how to make the model work in New Zealand, what grows best here, and how to get the community on board.

“There’s a real gap in New Zealand and Australia literature about how to make these things actually work, especially in the long term. Food forests in temperate climates like Europe and New Zealand are very young, so most research is about the setup,” Hiraina says.

Most of the focus has been on establishing them in the United States and Europe. Although there are a few food forests here in New Zealand, very little research is being done on them.

The system has been used by indigenous populations to grow food throughout history. Mayans were cultivating food forests 3000 years ago. Similar forests more than 2000 years old were recently discovered in Morocco. Hawaiian food forests existed until the island was colonised in the 1800s. They’re still used today in Africa, which inspired European people to try the idea in temperate climates in the 1970s. Since then, food forests have spread around the world.

So, what makes a food forest better than commercial farming?

Most farms around the world work with monocultures — areas filled with a single crop, maximising output of that one species.

Monocultures are great for efficiency. They maximise yields and are easier for farmers to manage. That’s good for feeding people, but using the land like that comes with a bunch of problems.

Growing one type of crop on the same field over and over depletes the soil of nutrients. This leads to high fertiliser use, but adding artificial nutrients to soil can have major impacts on the surrounding ecosystems, such as our waterways. The lack of biodiversity also makes crops susceptible to disease and pests.

Food forestry works on the opposite ideology. By introducing a wide range of edible foods into a more natural system, food forests are hardy, friendly to the environment, and create a rich space for the ecosystem to thrive.

A food forest can have hundreds of different species working as one ecosystem. Some plants help stabilise the soil, while others attract pollinators or predators that kill pests.

Most plants in food forests are perennial, meaning they last more than just one year. This makes it easier to maintain and harvest from, and means the soil doesn’t need to be disrupted by annual plantings. That’s great for storing carbon and water.

As the forest grows it takes less time to maintain, and as plants mature they produce more food. It’s a win for growers and for the health of the forest.

So how does it work?

The key to food forests is growing food in layers. Nuts can be grown at the canopy layer, then smaller fruit trees can be planted lower, such as apple, fig or cherry trees. We can also grow food on vines climbing up the trees, such as grapes or blackberries.

Underneath the trees is space for shrubs. This is where cane fruit and currents grow, such as blackcurrants and raspberries.

We can fit three different layers on the forest floor. On top goes herbs, like sage and oregano, and some food like asparagus. A range of plants can grow along the soil surface, such as strawberries and mint. Then under the ground go our root vegetables, such as such as potatoes, kūmara or onions. The exact mix of plants varies depending on the climate and ecosystem.

The majority of food forests are grown by community groups, but there are also businesses developing in the space.

Jorie wants to see a world where food forests are widespread and act as biodiversity tunnels, promoting healthy ecosystems and supporting wildlife.

“We know that these things work in Europe, which has a similar climate. We’re looking at how we can set this up in Aotearoa New Zealand. That includes the cultural aspect,” she says.

“We do have mahika kai — Māori food gathering systems — here in Aotearoa,” says Chrystal. “How can those values be integrated to create a cultural connection between whenua and communities?”

“It’s also about bringing food sovereignty back to the people. Creating easy and secure access to food without having to go to the supermarket. We’re keeping that bicultural lens to make it more accessible to everyone in Aotearoa as well.”

Are you interested in learning more about Māori food values? Check out our new Mahika Kai course. You’ll learn more about Māori food practices and how to implement them.

If you’d like to know more about agroforestry, check out our Applied Agroforestry course, which covers a range of agroforestry systems in Aotearoa New Zealand.