STEWARDSHIP, FOOD SECURITY, COMMUNITY: NATURE-BASED INTERVENTIONS TO SUPPORT ECOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, FOOD EQUITY AND YIELDS, AND COMMUNITY INCLUSION AT A SMALL URBAN FARM.

Abstract

This thesis explores the ways in which nature-based interventions, like a food forest can be used to support and enhance ecological diversity, food equity and community inclusion at a 1.5-acre urban farm in Edmonston, Maryland. Urban farms are an integral part of our food system with the potential to lower the carbon footprint of our food, connect people with locally sourced healthy produce and bolster community engagement and connection. I examine the three areas (diversity, food equity and community) through case studies and site analysis as common themes emerge to unite and emphasize their interconnectedness. Through concepts rooted in permaculture and agroecology, I redesigned an unused space on the farm into a diverse and productive landscape ripe with educational features to engage the community with one another and our surrounding ecosystem.