Item Details

abstract

In 2021, 30 million adults and 12 million children were either unable to acquire enough food to meet their needs or were uncertain of where their next meal was coming from (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines this lack of food accessibility as food insecurity, and there are concentrated pockets where the food insecurity rate is higher, such as the Appalachian region. The average rate of food-insecure individuals in the Appalachian region is almost 14 percent, compared to the nationwide average of 12.5 percent (Feeding America, 2021). Despite growing support for local, small-scale agriculture and the implementation of government food programs, food insecurity in the North Carolina Appalachian region is a persistent problem.Through the use of interviews, documents, journals, and some quantitative elements such as secondary data analysis, this qualitative Case Study aims to determine if the integration of forest farming (FF) and foraging into the food system of Watauga County NC is feasible, sustainable, and beneficial to food insecurity mitigation in this region. This analysis also explores the potential partners for integration and spaces for implementation in Watauga County, as well as systematic changes required to pursue these resources further.

subject

Agroforestry

Food Insecurity

Foraging

Forest Farming

Sustainable Agriculture

Watauga County

Phillips, David D (advisor)

contributor

Kwiatek, Paige Ann (author)

Von Burg, Ron R (committee member)

Blee, Lisa L (committee member)

Dickson, Rebecca R (committee member)

date

2023-01-24T09:35:35Z (accessioned)

2023-01-24T09:35:35Z (available)

2022 (issued)

degree

Sustainability (discipline)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/101764 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

title

A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF NON-TIMBER FOREST FARMING AND FORAGING ON FOOD INSECURITY IN WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

type

Thesis