By Anna Roodhof – Food forestry is an advanced type of agroforestry where practitioners design a forest ecosystem that incorporates edible and otherwise serviceable perennial plant species. In the Netherlands, food forests have become an increasingly popular land-use form, inspired by Martin Crawford’s forest garden. The first occurrence of the term ‘food forest’ dates back to 2009, when Wouter van Eck and Pieter Jansen started a forest garden sized 3 hectares, which they aptly renamed ‘food forest’. Since then, and especially from 2017 onwards, this innovative approach to agroforestry has flourished across the country. As a PhD candidate at the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University and Research, I study this emerging phenomenon.
Last week, the first article of this project, called ‘Understanding the emerging phenomenon of food forestry in the Netherlands: An assemblage theory approach’, was published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development. This article presents an exploratory study of food forestry through the lens of assemblage theory, which I describe as “the coming together of many components which interact, producing emergent properties” (Roodhof, 2024, p. 3).
While the concept was originated by Deleuze and Guattari (1987), I resort to DeLanda (2016) for his emphasis on the immanence of emergent properties: the emergent properties of assemblages cease once an assemblage disbands. Sarmiento (2020) theorized that the interactions between the elements of an assemblage can be characterized as relations of dominance and difference: such relations play a role in solidifying or dissolving assemblages.
As such, my research identified numerous elements of the food forestry assemblage, such as the mentioned experts, food forests, practitioners, networks and coalitions, laws and regulations, subsidies, events, workshops, and other activities in and around food forests. The interactions between these elements lead to various emergent properties, such as increased hope for the future and feelings of belonging. Particularly noteworthy is the shared experience of ‘pionieren’ (pioneering): “practicing FF entails the excitement of being part of a new, grassroots movement that gives a sense of purpose, while also having a sense of insecurity” (Roodhof, 2024, p. 9-10).
Moreover, I uncover intricate relations of dominance and difference within the food forestry landscape, influencing recruitment, shared values, definitions, organization, and infrastructure. For instance, while shared values unite practitioners in their quest for sustainable food systems, differing perspectives on food forestry’s purpose and scope lead to debates over its definition and institutional recognition.
This study demonstrates the complex relations between the many elements that compose the food forestry assemblage in the Netherlands and highlights the rapid development this assemblage is currently undergoing: this paper presents a snapshot in time. Its sets the stage for further research about social and economic possibilities for food forestry. As the food forestry landscape is highly diverse, the common denominator of food forests being their multifunctionality, further research should take note of the importance of the socio-geographic context.
Literature
DeLanda, M. (2016). Assemblage theory. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474413640
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia (B. Massumi, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1980).
Roodhof, A. (2024). Understanding the emerging phenomenon of food forestry in the Netherlands: An assemblage theory approach. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development, 13(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2024.132.018
Sarmiento, E. (2020). Field methods for assemblage analysis: Tracing relations between difference and dominance. In J. K. Gibson-Graham & K. Dombroski (Eds.), The handbook of diverse economies (pp. 486–492). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788119962.00067