Food Forest: Hippie Nonsense Or Survival Strategy?

Collin County, Texas, could soon be home to the nations largest public food forest.

A food what? You read that right. A food forest is a food production system based on the patters of a natural forest.  Fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, herbs, and vines are grown together, forming a canopy, under-story, and shrub layer like a forest.

Collin County is now considering converting an unused part of Myers Park in to a food forest. Click here to learn more about the project.

“It would be a showplace for Collin County,” said Stephen Kallas, a member of the advisory board for Myers Park, a 158-acre county park and event center that highlights the area’s agrarian heritage.

As the board considers future plans for the park, Kallas proposed establishing an edible forest garden on an undeveloped 60-acre section.

“This land is sitting fallow and not being utilized,” he said.

Kallas asked Nicholas Burtner, director of the Plano-based School of Permaculture, to design a food forest for the site and present the plan to the board.

“To my knowledge, this would be the largest in the nation,” Burtner said of the proposed food forest. “It could be a turning point for North Texas.”

What do you think?  Could a food forest be a valuable source of food when SHTF, or is this just hippie nonsense?  Let us know in the comments.

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