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From Natural Life Magazine May/June, 2007 Imagine a city or town where apples, pears, nuts, oranges, cherries and berries line the streets, create welcome shade in parking lots and parks and provide free food for anyone who cares to pick it. Instead, most urban areas are planted with sad shrubs, neglected “ornamental” non-native trees that require too much water and bedraggled annual flowers planted in regimented rows. Visionary groups and individuals around the world have found ways to combine the local food movement with beautifying neighborhoods, while building community and feeding themselves at the same time. The idea of “public fruit” is what propels a project in Los Angeles that was begun as an activist art project called Fallen Fruit. Artists David Burns, Matias Viegener and Austin Young mapped the public fruit – which they define as fruit in or overhanging public spaces such as sidewalks, streets or parking lots – in their neighborhood. According to California law, if a fruit tree grows on or over public property, the fruit is no longer the sole property of the owner of the tree, which makes free food available year round in LA without trespassing on private property...providing one knows where to find it. While public fruit might not be a four-season phenomenon in other areas, Fallen Fruit has a vision of expanding the maps around the world, and provides tools on its website for learning how to map public fruit. The group believes that fruit is a resource that should be commonly shared, like mushrooms from the forest. So it has moved from mapping to planning fruit parks in under-utilized areas and encouraging municipalities and urban planning groups to replace ornamentals with edible species to be shared by all citizens, similar to the communal gardens in many cities that provide food for poor families. The goal is to get people thinking about the life and vitality of our neighborhoods and to consider how we can change the dynamic of our cities and common values. They also offer a Public Fruit Jam, where residents bring their own fruit and jars and learn the art of making jam. Fallen Fruit has only a few rules: “Take only what you need, say ‘hi’ to strangers, share, take a friend and go by foot.” ... To read the rest of this article, subscribe to Natural Life's digital edition, which includes access to this and other back issues. Wendy Priesnitz is the Editor of Natural Life Magazine and a journalist with over 30 years of experience. She has also authored nine books. Visit her website. |
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