The Real Reasons Cities Won't Allow Planting of Public Fruit and Nut Trees!

low-income households spent significantly less on fruits and vegetables than higher income households. In any given week, approximately 19 percent of all low-income households bought no fruits and vegetables, compared with only about 10 percent of higher income households!

Rich Corporations need poor and hungry people they keep profits steady, mainly because, there is a growing interest in urban gardening and sustainable living, so more people may be considering fruit trees for their yards or gardens. Packaged food sales have been lagging at supermarkets—sales of packaged food were flat last year, largely because of a trend in which Americans are opting for fresher alternatives at the grocery store. Dollar stores have been the rare exception—food sales at discount stores have greatly outpaced their higher priced counterparts, prompting chains like Dollar General to add more room for food products. General Mills' sales at discount stores rose by nearly 10 percent last year.

"Ms. Brigitte S. A mailroom worker pondered the question why cities don't allow fruit and nut trees to be grown and recounted the following experience."

Let me give you an example of food in a park and see what you think. When I was a young woman the local "powers that be" decided that we needed more water in the area for farming in the summer and also a good source of recreational cash. So they bought an entire valley nearby and put a dam across the mouth of it and built a lake. This was once really nice farm land, now all water. Yes it made a great lake, I used it myself in the summer. No problem really and the extra water storage is pretty helpful I guess.

Now around that lakeshore used to be many beautiful old family farms dotted with orchards of many kinds. Apple, plum, cherry, pear, peach and also grapes and berries. Once the lake went in the land became public and anyone who wanted to forage in the late summer could walk up into the lakeside lands and pick the ripe fruit. I know because I most assuredly did. In fact, as this happened right about the time I got married and our family finances were tight, I fed my family for 2 winters on the fruit I gleaned from those old orchards. The tart pie cherries were amazing and the apples and grapes were sooo good those hungry winters.

Three years later, the county noticed that poor local folks were harvesting all that fruit and carrying it off to eat. They closed down the park area quickly, brought in at great expense, a large landscaping crew and cut down EVERY single fruit tree, pulled out the stumps, removed and yanked out every grape vine and berry bush. Once done they re-opened it and proclaimed “Now it’s safe” Their excuse? The fruit wasn’t being sprayed with poison for pests so wasn’t safe for human consumption!!! Yes, unbelievably that was the official statement. I kept the newspaper clippings of this statement for years after. You tell me…(what was the real reason?

Food not only represents our lifestyle but also provides mental, physical, social, and economic stability. It is the right of every human to be fed. With food scarcity, society deteriorates at an exponential level. Without affordable sustainable energy, it becomes more difficult to produce food, we can't work, and can't contribute to the nation. But there's a reason why large food companies are selling more of their processed and packaged foods to America's poor: they have figured out a way to do it at a much higher profit margin.

In order to offer the façade of affordability, manufacturers like Kraft are selling food in smaller packages. These granola bars, sauces, cereals, and prepared meals look like they cost less, but actually are far more expensive on a per ounce basis, according to Reuters. Even candy that once was made with dairy is now made with soy milk with the exception of foreign brands from Africa, Australia and South America. Soy contains high levels of phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that binds with minerals and prevents them from being assimilated during digestion. In other words, eating soy products can keep you from getting all the minerals you need from the food you eat; instead of a health food, soy can deplete your health.

Soy also contains trypsin inhibitors which can interfere with protein digestion and absorption. Trypsin inhibitors can prevent normal growth, so children are especially susceptible to soy’s dangers. Soy contains phytoestrogens which mimic the body’s natural hormones (especially estrogen) and disrupt their function causing lower birthrates. Disrupted hormone function can lead to problems with sexual development in children, infertility, breast cancer, and thyroid disfunction.

While soy contains vitamin B12, it is not easily absorbed or utilized by the body and can increase the body’s need for B12 instead of satisfying its requirements. Soy increases the body’s need for vitamin D. The processing of soy denatures its proteins and can form highly carcinogenic compounds. MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is often formed during soy processing. If more people eat healthy snacks like fruit and nuts profits would plummet for the chocolate industry that has taken something that used to be relatively healthy and turned it into a health nightmare. “Soybean lecithin (milk) comes from sludge left after crude soy oil goes through a “degumming” process. It is a waste product containing solvents and pesticides and has a consistency ranging from a gummy fluid to a plastic solid.” It is also extracted using hexane (a colorless liquid that is a major constituent of gasoline) and bleached to make it lighter in color. Yikes! Do you really want that in your delicious chocolate? Even if I wasn’t aware of soy’s dangers, this description of lecithin is unappetizing and quite disgusting.

If fruit and nuts were free, it would have significant social, economic, and environmental impacts.

On a positive note, it could help alleviate hunger and malnutrition, improve public health, and reduce poverty. It could also lead to a more equitable distribution of resources and reduce food waste, as everyone would have access to a significant portion of the food they need. When food resources are abundant, the carrying capacity increases, allowing for higher population densities. Conversely, limited food availability can restrict the carrying capacity and result in lower population densities. In US states that are conservative food is harder to get from state organizations and therefore the populations are smaller in density. Americans are increasingly moving to red, Republican-leaning states – where life is cheaper, but people also die younger and birthrates are consistently in decline.

Free Foods Would Increase Marginalized Populations!

"Not only is there a benefit to the human world, but there is great ecological benefit to our earth as a whole. Through regenerative growing methods such as permaculture and natural farming, the process of growing food and shrubs and trees alongside – is also a process of regenerating land and wildlife in our cities, and a process of reducing the need for destructive industrial agriculture. and No one is Hungry." K Verma (India Blogger)

Are You Nuts?

In January 2020, shelled pecans are priced at $5.56 per pound whereas in-shell pecans are wholesale priced at 2.08 per pound (http://pecanreport.com/price-list/). In 2024, the approximate wholesale price range for US walnuts is between US$ 3.36 and US$ 6.04 per kilogram or between US$ 1.52 and US$ 2.74 per pound. In cities across the United States, people struggling with food insecurity and lack of green space are looking to urban food production to tackle both. Covering more surfaces in vegetation can mitigate the heat island effect that disproportionately affects low-income communities and will only become more dangerous as the world warms. It can also provide a much needed source of fresh produce.

While research about the potential of a subsistence tree urban food source is limited, a 2012 analysis of Burlington, Vermont, which has a strong local-food movement, found that even in a colder climate, fruit trees could have a significant impact on food security. Dotting just 5 percent of open space with apple trees could help as much as 20 percent of a city like Burlington’s food-insecure population reach its daily fruit requirements. 20% open space usage in any major city could give 50% of the population daily fruit and protein requirements at no significant cost beyond planting oak trees that feed squirrels instead! Fallen fruit could be collected to make high grade fertilizer for community gardens lowering city costs. One of the simplest things you can do is put the nitrogen-rich fallen fruit to work as fertilizer. This is a great way to utilize the mushy rotting fruit you might not otherwise try to salvage. It's also a fine way to complete the agricultural life cycle, inspiring decaying fruit to help spawn new life in your garden.