Montgomery College students, nonprofit create community food forest to fight food insecurity
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) – Students at Montgomery College have teamed up with one local non-profit to create a food forest on the college’s campus.
Organizers of the project say many students on the college’s campus are facing food insecurity, so they created this space to grow food and help combat the issue.
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Community Food Forest Collective president, Miles Amoore, said the idea of a food forest on Montgomery College’s campus was presented to administrators about two years ago.
“They were really quick to say, ‘Yes, this is a great idea,’” Amoore said.
He said they got the green light so quickly because the college realized a staggering number of its students go hungry each day.
“It’s at around 39%,” Amoore said, “I think, of students suffering from some form of food insecurity.”
Amoore said they chose to turn the area into a food forest as opposed to a more conventional urban agriculture space like a community garden.
“The reason we call it a food forest is because it mimics a natural woodland ecosystem,” he said. “So that’s one of the reasons why it’s so beneficial to the wildlife.”
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When complete, the food forest will produce lots of food.
“We have American persimmons,” Montgomery College student, Tierney Acosta, said. “We have papas, we have purple flowering raspberries, black raspberries, we have dewberries, apples and peaches, we have pears.”
Acosta is the president of the Permaculture Club and has played an integral role in starting the project. She says it’s very rewarding knowing their hard work will result in less students going hungry.
“I think a lot of people are familiar with the ‘Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for the rest of his life,’” Acosta said. “I think the same idea is happening here just with plants. You teach one to grow their own food and they’re going to carry that knowledge with them.”
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There will be a planting day at the food forest, which is located at the intersection of Chicago and Philadelphia avenues in Takoma Park, on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
All community members are welcome to attend.
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