Program on the Environment

Western colonization erased Indigenous lifeways that sustained communities for thousands of years. In their place, cities have been built up through colonial and capitalist systems, separating people from the ecosystems that sustain them. This disconnection has produced social, environmental, and political vulnerabilities in modern cities. This study aims to close this gap, identifying how Seattle can integrate food forests, an indigenous lifeway, throughout its urban landscape. To do this, I interned at the Beacon Food Forest in Seattle, working with the community to design their Young Peoples Garden Space and observing what makes the food forest successful. Independently, I researched pathways towards food forest integration through a literature review, professional interviews, and policy analysis. My findings indicate that there is potential to expand food forests by leveraging underutilized public land, including existing right-of-ways and parkland, with support from current policies, funding, and maintenance programs. These results suggest that Seattle already has the necessary foundations to integrate food forests throughout the city. This study highlights food forests as a viable strategy to decolonize our cities, bringing them back to a state of resilience that supports the people who live in them.