饿了吗？那就去公园吧。西雅图新建的食物森林旨在打造一片可食用的荒野。（图片：Buena Vista Images/Getty Images）
西雅图打造城市食物绿洲的愿景正在逐步实现。位于该市灯塔山社区的一块七英亩土地上将种植数百种不同的可食用植物：核桃树和栗子树；蓝莓和覆盆子灌木；包括苹果和梨在内的果树； 菠萝、柚子、番石榴、柿子、金银忍冬和越橘等异域水果；香草等等。所有这些植物都将向所有漫步于这座城市首个食物森林的人们开放，供大家采摘。
“这完全是创新之举，在公共公园里从未有过先例，”灯塔食物森林项目首席景观设计师玛格丽特·哈里森告诉TakePart网站。哈里森目前正在绘制施工图和申请许可证，预计将于今年夏天破土动工。
“食物森林”的概念无疑拓展了城市农业的边界，它以永续农业的理念为基础，这意味着它将像天然森林一样，实现多年生和自我维持。这片森林不仅是西雅图首个大型永续农业项目，而且据信也是全美首例。
“这个概念意味着我们要考虑土壤、伴生植物、昆虫、虫子——所有的一切都将对彼此有益，”哈里森说。
这项计划最终得以实施本身就令人惊叹。它最初只是永续农业设计课程的一个小组项目，最终却成为了社区拓展活动成功实施的教科书式案例。
“为了获得社区的支持， 食物森林之友开展了英勇的宣传工作。该团队用五种不同的语言寄出了6000多张明信片，在各种活动和集市上摆摊设点，并张贴传单，” 罗伯特·梅林格在Crosscut网站上写道。
组织者非常重视社区居民的意见，甚至还聘请了翻译人员来帮助中国居民参与规划。
那么，到时候究竟谁能摘取这些唾手可得的果实呢？
“任何人都可以，”哈里森说。“我们对此进行了热烈的讨论。人们担心，‘万一有人来把蓝莓全摘走了怎么办？’这种情况很有可能发生，但也许有人需要这些蓝莓。我们这样看待这个问题——如果蓝莓季结束时我们一个蓝莓都没摘，那就意味着我们成功了。”
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How many acres? How many people?
If one or a few people pick all of the blueberries one season, or someone else sells some apples they picked, why not plant more acres and more acres and more acres?
Until people bought and barricaded all the land every forest was a food forest...and if you know a forest you can get into, it is still a food forest. Pine, cedar, willow, nuts, and all sorts of forest plants are deliciously edible and sustained humankind for thousands of years. Seattle has a nice urban idea but certainly NOT America's first food forest. Creator gave us that! We have in New England all kinds of orchards with berries, pears, apples, peaches, nuts, honey bees, etc, (not many exotics); a kind of fruit forest - though not usually free. Perhaps it should be called America's first Free Fruit Forest.
This is a fascinating trend. I applaud the visionaries behind this movement. Harold, Lead Pastor @ Life Center, Pasadena, CA
I suspect that is a real possibility Rosemary, but by far better to build this and know that the right people will enjoy. I would love to see this manifest everywhere, no one would need to then try to sell because FREE is available. What a wonderful world this will be!
I read somewhere... can't remember which state... doesn't allow the planting of fruit trees on public property ( schools etc ) because (they say ) it will bring pests. I don't like it when people act stupid.... fruit trees feed people. Rock on permiculture!
This is fascinating and I applaud the people of Seattle, who are once again leading the way :) I do, however, have a question, and this comes from the potential conflicts between 'scarcity' and 'abundance' models. How have they tackled the question of what to do if someone, for example, thinks they can take advantage of this 'abundance' by picking lots of apples and then selling them at a market? I am working with a colleague on an issue of a journal that will focus on 'open source thinking' and this question - is there a dark side to the concept - is one we have been reflecting on, along with thinking about its advantages. In other words, how does one sustain 'orderly' use of the fruit forest without imposing 'control'? Is there an equivalent to the creative commons approach that could apply to such abundance-oriented models and activities?
I think the world was like this.........but we have made it as it is now....it is great that we are trying to swing it back to it glories past...well done good job....all nations, institutions etc can replicate this to their own capacity....