Submission Date

4-28-2025

Document Type

Paper

Department

Environmental Studies

Adviser

Patrick Hurley

Committee Member

Patrick Hurley

Committee Member

Tristan Ashcroft

Committee Member

Lauren Wynne

Department Chair

Patrick Hurley

Project Description

Food insecurity is a growing concern specifically in urban areas, leaving individuals struggling to seek out alternative methods of obtaining food. Previous research has shown that there is an abundance of edible materials with nutritious components under our noses: in parks and green spaces. However, park regulations and manager perspectives of foraging practices present a likely/possible/potential barrier to obtaining edible species materials. This study seeks to provide a more in-depth understanding of the accessibility of edible species materials to food insecure individuals based on analysis of park rules and manager perspectives of foraging, including how accepting managers seem to be of foraging in the park(s) they oversee. After analyzing the accessibility of edible species through proximity, park rules, and manager perspectives by examining a survey sent out to managers and a map created in ArcGIS Pro, the major findings of this study reveal that access to food in parks, as assessed by proximity and legal/sanctioned harvest, is limited based on park ordinances and manager perspectives about foraging. The second, bolstering finding was that managers have concerns about site and plant harm and a lack of understanding for the extent to which foraging can provide an outlet to offset the impacts of food insecurity. The findings of this study highlight the potentially limiting (intentional or not) park rules on connecting people to food which require a shift in managers’ perspectives and a reframing of park regulations in order for foraging to become a more effective way to offset food insecurity.

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Available for download on Wednesday, April 28, 2027

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