Implementing sustainable food forests

Extracting success factors through a cross-case comparison

Abstract

Food forests are multistrata ecosystems that pro­vide healthy food, livelihood opportunities, as well as social-cultural and environmental services. With these features, food forests address several prob­lems industrial food systems cause. While the overall number of food forests is continuously increasing worldwide, the rate of uptake is still low. This study reconstructs in detail how different types of food forests (n=7) were realized, mostly in Europe, with a focus on organization and manage­ment. Findings confirm and add to previous studies indicating that the successful implementa­tion of food forests depends on long-term land access, sufficient start-up funds, and adequate farming and entrepreneurial know-how, among other factors. While these are not unique factors compared to other farm and food businesses, sustainable food forests face particular obstacles to secure them. This study offers guidance to food entrepreneurs, public officials, and activists on how to successfully implement food forests to realize their full sustainability potential.