The term "food forest" is a concept I encountered working on small organic permaculture farms in the Pacific Northwest. The idea is to create a fully integrated farm that utilizes different tiers of plant species and root depths to develop a naturally regenerative forest comprised mostly of edible species. By creating "guilds" of plants that work in tandem with each other to either provide shade, fix nitrogen, provide a cover crop for the ground, and generally promote mycolog

Not all of the goods I import are certified organic, but all of the small scale farmers I work with use organic practices; they do not use any chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers; nor do they use any genetically modified (GMO) seeds. Most, however, cannot afford the expensive organic certification needed to promote and sell their foods for a higher price in the international market. An organic certification usually takes around 3 years and often costs thousands of do