Gems of FGCU: Food Forest and Nature Trail

I've been attending FGCU for almost 4 years, and I can't believe I've never step foot into the Food Forest. It's truly a magical place. Picture lush, abundant, diverse set of trees and plants intertwined together tucked behind a building. And the best part? Everything in there is edible! Even the leaves on the plants too! I'll admit not everything tasted great, but knowing you can go into the Food Forest and freely pick and choose what things you want to eat/cook is a beautiful thing.

A Food Forest can be described as a sustainable garden. It sustains itself without the need of harmful fertilizers and pesticides. This permaculture system integrates different types of plants and trees that are naturally harmonious, creating mutually beneficial relationships. Nature has thrived without human intervention for thousands of years! This sustainable garden imitates Mother Nature itself. However, modern agriculture grows food through monoculture and utilizes harmful chemical warfare in the process. According to Garden Know How, growing in a monoculture is harmful because it depletes soil of its nutrients, which leaves it unable to support healthy plants life. This means that farmers have to counteract this with aggressive use of pesticides and fertilizers. FGCU's Food Forest is paving the way for other schools and universities to incorporate this as part of their environmental education.

Edible plants and fruits found in the Food Forest were Moringa, Cassava, Neem, Red Lady Papaya, Jack Fruit, Red Turks Cap, Montinga, Avocados, Wampee Fruit, and many more!



Figure 1: Pictured above is a Moringa tree. This is referred to as "The Magical Tree" because of it's enormous benefits. According to Trees For Life, this tree contains "7 times the vitamin C of oranges, 4 times the Vitamin A of carrots, 4 times the calcium of milk, 3 times the potassium of bananas and 2 times the protein of yogurt." As you can see, these tiny leaves are anything but!




Figure 2: Pictured above is a Cassava tree. This tree is a staple worldwide because of it's high level
of starch!



Figure 3: Pictured above is the Neem Tree. According to Discover Neem, these trees are highly valued because of their medical benefits. It is "effective at eliminating bacterial and fungal infection, can treat warts and cold sores, soothes inflammation and reduces redness and can even lighten scars and pigmentation."


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Figure 4: Pictured above is a Jack Fruit. Vegetarians and Vegans turn to this miracle plant as a substitution for meat. Many have transformed this fruit into a BBQ pork sandwich! Meat lovers wouldn't even recognize that it's actually this fruit they're eating.

 

Figure 5: Red Turks Cap. This is actually an edible flower! I never thought I would be brave enough to eat a flower, but it actually didn't taste bad.

When I go to the grocery store now, I have a different perspective of where my food actually comes from. Before the Food Forest tour, I never really critically thought of where my fruits and vegetables actually came from. Now, I'm way more curious about its source. Where was it grown? How was it grown? How did it get here? Were pesticides used to make these strawberries appear bigger and more juicy? This dialogue is very important to not only be aware of where your food comes from, but actually caring about the harmful chemicals that may have been used to produce the food you're about to consume.

Preserving the Food Forest and The Campus Nature Trails is important if we want to continue FGCU's mission of remaining sustainable. To begin with, the Food Forest is maintained through sustainable practices such as the drip irrigation and closed loop system. Instead of using sprinklers to water their plants, (in the hot, Florida heat, most of the water actually evaporates before it touches the plants) the Food Forest enables a drip irrigation system, which disperses the water where it is actually needed. In this way, the Food Forest can conserve water and improve plant health at the same time. Also, the Food Forest does not use regular mulch. The closed loop system (Chop and Drop system) uses branches that have fallen down or died instead. This creates the mulch for planting/sustaining new trees.

Touring the campus Nature Trail also educated me on how elevation is an indicator of the type of trees that can grow there, which can then inform us on the type of ecosystem it is. If I remember correctly, the Nature Trail was an Oak Hammock ecosystem, as that is the dominate tree located there. The trail hosted an abundant of different species from Saw Palmettos, Resurrection Ferns, Wax Myrtle, Dog Fennel, Cypress Trees, and many more. I actually learned that a dog fennel is a natural pest repellant, which is a natural, sustainable practice in improving plant life. Also, the Cypress Trees have what is called an Air Plant living on their trees. An Air Plant is an indicator of a place with good oxygen levels! The Saw Palmettos is actually the number one bee pollen source, and it's located right here in our campus. Evidence of another natural, sustainable process in planting more trees.



Figure 6: If you closely look above the woman's head, you can see the Air Plant!


**All photos were taken by me

Our Food Forest and Nature Trail provide many different services. A major Supporting Service is a habitat for all these different type of plants to flourish and co-exist harmoniously. We also discussed in class how soil is a major supporting service. These both habitats contain soil for these different type plants to live in. With housing all these different type of plants, another service these both provide is the ability for photosynthesis to occur. As we also discussed in class, Provisioning Services are products obtained from the actual ecosystem itself. As I mentioned, the Food Forest provides an abundant of fruits and leaves that are not only edible, but provide medicinal benefits as well. It's Regulation Services is evident with different plants being a natural pest repellant. As I mentioned, Dog Fennel located in the Nature Trail is a natural way to control pests. Also, trees  help regulate and cool the climate because it removes CO2 and releases Oxygen into the air. The Food Forest and Nature Trail also supply us with an abundant of Cultural Services. It's a place where you can reconnect with yourself; a place where you can find peace; a place where you are able to center yourself and be in tune with your spiritual self. It also provides endless amount of knowledge and wisdom about the world around us.

As we discussed in class, protecting our ecosystem is extremely important, as they supply us with the things we need to survive. However, there is a disconnect between saving our world because we don't firsthand feel the effects of the depletion of our ecosystem services. We maintain this 'out-of-sight-out-of-mind' mentality, which will only be detrimental to our world if we don't start recognizing that the choices we make have real life consequences, even if we don't feel them. We need the facts and the evidence if we are going to transform the minds and perspectives on saving our planet. Not everyone will believe that our earth and its plants and animals are worth saving (or even believe they are being affected). Not everyone will have the same heart, but in order to see a change, we need to appeal to both mind and heart: logic and emotions.