By Samantha Dawkins
The human-environment interaction that I have decided to write about on Mason’s campus is the innovation food forest. This is a relatively small gardening space located next to the Innovation Building on campus. The food forest has allowed for growth in biodiversity, education purposes, and has served as a resource for food insecure or even food curious Mason students.
This food forest not only serves as a resource for those on campus, but it also allows for the reduction of water run off in that area. Majority of Mason’s campuses are covered by nonpermeable surfaces that are unable to absorb or negate water run off, so having smaller portions of campus that are strategically placed allows for the food forest to absorb this excess water. Additionally, I believe it is rare for Donnie and the other sustainability volunteers to use fertilizers within the food forest, reducing the likelihood of chemical pollutants entering local waterways.
The food forest is owned and managed by Mason’s Office of Sustainability and was created by Elizabeth Torrens after being inspired by a ‘Permaculture Design Certification Course’ (Green, 2022). Alongside the food forest, there is also a compositing site, which is convenient for those living on campus (Youtube, 2019). Composting prevents food from being discarded of into landfills, where they are unable to naturally biodegrade and eventually release harmful gases into the atmosphere. By providing a compost pile, the Office of Sustainability is working to reduce food waste on campus and revert any food waste back into a usable fertile soil to mix into the food forest and other gardens on campus.
Though I do not believe there are many outside factors impacting this area, I do believe that the university does have incentives to up-keep this area of campus. Firstly, George Mason as an institution has ‘social responsibilities’ that students, staff, and locals recognize—one of them being the management of green spaces on campus. Another incentive would be the desire for greater funding for green spaces or urban food development on campus, which assist the university’s perceptions by outsiders as well as those on campus. Additionally, these green spaces on campus lower GMU’s overall carbon emissions as a percentage of these emissions are absorbed by the food forest and Mason’s arboretum (United Nations, 2022).
We can best assist the food forest in assisting our campuses health by volunteering to maintain the plants and general location as well as taking advantage of the composting location nearby. Additionally, using the food forest to educate your peers on the necessity of permeable surfaces in urban areas, the increased need for urban food development, and the importance of biodiversity, native plant life, and permaculture used in the food forest. Mason currently hires individuals from the Office of Sustainability to maintain and educate individuals on the food forest.
Photos
Sources
Green, G. M. U. (2022). Innovation Food Forest. Office of Sustainability. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://green.gmu.edu/campus-sustainability/campus-gardens/ff-home/#:~:text=The%20Innovation%20Food%20Forest%20is%20an%20ecological%20model%20and%20an,hires%20staff%20to%20maintain%20it.
United Nations, F. and A. O. O. the. (2022). Fao.org. Sustainable Food and Agriculture (SFA) | Incentives for Ecosystem Services | Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.fao.org/in-action/incentives-for-ecosystem-services/policy/sutainable-food-and-agriculture/es/
YouTube. (2019). How to Compost at George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus by Roosevelt@Mason. YouTube. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVhW1T8qw3g&ab_channel=greengmu.