The Beacon Food Forest Belongs to Everybody: BIPOC Leadership Cultivates Equity and Accessibility

by Amanda Sorell

The Beacon Food Forest, a 7-acre haven in Beacon Hill's Jefferson Park, is built on the principle of providing an inclusive place for "all people" and "all species." Signage welcomes visitors to the forest, where "open harvest" is encouraged, and paths weave past blooming flowers, between abundant gardens, and below rows of fruit trees. Community Relations Director Priya Marita Diaz says the food forest is a "space where people find their nook," whether those visitors are gardeners, foragers, herbalists, crafters, or groups who just want a peaceful place to meet outdoors. "We have this freedom to express ourselves in the space and use it for healing and building community and coming together," Diaz said.

Since its inception in 2009, the forest's focus on inclusivity and community has continued to flourish. Now, new efforts are sprouting across the acreage to transform not only the forest itself but also how it meets visitors' and volunteers' needs.

From Foraging to Farming: The BIPOC Community Garden

In its early days, the Beacon Food Forest — a public plot owned by the City, supported by grants, and stewarded by hundreds of volunteers — was focused on transforming a muddy slope into a diverse permaculture ecosystem full of fresh, forageable foods. Over the next decade, the burgeoning forest grew to include P-patches, a giving garden, and an abundance of edible plants.

Then, the arrival of the pandemic prompted a pivot: The food forest increased its focus on cultivating vegetables among the permacultured perennials. "With the pandemic exposing food insecurity more, the intention of the garden has shifted," Diaz said. "The focus early on was more on the environment. And now it's more on the needs of the community. … And I think it also has to do with who had become more involved in the garden, and People of Color taking more of a leadership role and having more of a say in the expansion and what that looks like."

In 2022, the food forest's effort to broaden its mission to include environmental justice led to the creation of the BIPOC Community Garden on an acre of its land. In this garden, whose planning and planting are led by People of Color, volunteers grow herbs and foods that are culturally relevant for themselves and residents of the neighborhood. Diaz says that while food access has always been important to the forest, it has turned a new leaf with this addition. "The focus on foods that are culturally appropriate and more accessible and more identifiable to people … and more appropriate to what People of Color want, or Communities of Color want, has definitely been more recent."

Horticulturist Will Rak began volunteering for the food forest in 2013 and was the board president from 2020 to 2023. Over the past decade, he has witnessed the evolution of the forest's mission. "[The BIPOC Garden] has been a huge safe space and connection point for BIPOC community members. … A lot of our grants now and going into the near future are oriented around providing funding for staff for the programs and for the expansion of BIPOC Community Garden space." According to the Beacon Food Forest 2022 Annual Report, "People are as important a part of a food forest ecosystem as the plants," and the food forest's efforts to uplift BIPOC communities have also been expressed through partnerships with other local organizations to share land, resources, training programs, and food: "Percussion Farms led the charge in teaching black youth how to grow food, winterize their garden spaces, and more. [Asian Counseling and Referral Service] chose to use their space as a sanctuary for Queer BIPOC Youth through the use of garden parties and therapeutic gardening practices. The BIPOC Garden also made donations to Rainier Valley Food Bank and Chuminh Tofu for their free meal Sundays, which is aimed towards assisting those in need."

KUOW reports that the Beacon Food Forest donated at least "3,540 pounds of produce to local food banks in 2023" — in addition to what visitors have picked. And while Diaz says the food forest can't meet all the needs of the South End, where access to fresh, healthy food is limited, it can counteract the feeling of scarcity. "The forest is overflowing with generosity, the generosity of creating stuff for us, and that we're helping it create. … It helps people to heal from that feeling of scarcity and fear. This is for you. Go ahead, take the rosemary, take as much as you need. We want people to know that there's enough for everyone and that we can support each other." Instead of volunteers telling visitors how much to harvest, the forest functions on trust. As visitors harvest more food, volunteers grow more food in response. "Most of what I feel is important is less of the quantifiable pounds of food that we create — even though that's really significant and important," Diaz said. "We're fighting back against those systems of oppression through the work that we're doing."

True Inclusion

Rak says the food forest is more than just a garden or orchard. "It's on public land, it's Seattle Public Utilities land. So giving over public lands to the people to use how they really want is kind of a restoration of the commons," he said. "And that's somewhat radical in a lot of ways. There's a huge amount of autonomy and self-determination that goes along with that, where people can actually come to BFF and have a real say in what ends up happening and being planted."

This autonomy is also reflected in the forest's organizational structure, which uses a system of governance called "sociocracy." Rak says this system involves slowing down and considering all ideas and objections "so everyone's voice is truly heard."

Longtime core volunteer Tony Dickey echoed these sentiments. Dickey is passionate about pollinators, and in 2021, he proposed the creation of a group called Pollinator-Plus. "There's not a lot of hierarchy to climb through," he said. "If you have a good idea, there's a lot of people that you can speak to." The Beacon Food Forest supported Dickey in creating the pollinator group and leading educational programs about encouraging the presence of pollinators. After-school programs, field trips, and festivals — such as an upcoming Pollinator-Plus Fest on June 22, presented in partnership with the Washington Native Bee Society — bring in children who are able to dig in the dirt, taste-test herbs, and learn about bees. Dickey enjoys teaching youth about pollinators, and he's hopeful the food forest can be part of inspiring statewide summer camps for that purpose.

Enthusiasm for plants brings the food forest community together, and volunteers are eager to share their passions with others. They're currently working on the creation of a crowdsourced cookbook, to which community members and volunteers will contribute recipes that use their favorite food-forest-foraged ingredients so visitors know how to use the diverse offerings. And though it's tough to play favorites with the plentiful plants, each volunteer speaks fondly of the plants they prefer. Diaz enjoys the mulberries, which are sweeter than other tart berries that grow in the area. Rak loves the Sichuan peppercorns. "We have these two bushes that are just loaded with these things, and the flavor and aroma is so distinct and rich and delicious. Cooking with them really elevates a meal." And Dickey treasures the calendula, which has high amounts of both nectar and pollen, and "that's what bees want. … Not every flower has pollen, and not every flower has nectar. But calendula has both."

Amping Up Accessibility

Diaz says the forest is brimming with possibility — and as it grows, the group is focused on making sure as many people can partake as possible. "The space can host anything that we can think of … educational events, art events, music events," she said. But because the food forest is on a slope, its gravel pathways aren't as accessible for people who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids.

Rak said, "When it first went in, everyone was making the best of the situation as they first had it, which was simply a grassy hill. And to turn it into a food forest was a total revolution in that space. But … as it expanded our understanding of the ecology, of what would survive and thrive and produce good food, our sense of social equity has also expanded considerably."

The volunteers are unanimously passionate about increasing access and welcoming everyone into the space. They're working on raised beds for more accessible gardening options and multilingual signage to reach out to non-English-speaking neighbors in the community. And in addition to creating and maintaining pathways, volunteers plan to offer art-making sessions in tandem with workdays, since physical labor isn't possible for everyone. "Some people who can't lift the shovel can lift the pencil or lift the paintbrush," Dickey said. "We are really focusing on accessibility. That is our mission. There's not a doubt in all of the core members' minds that that is a clear focus for all of us. We want to do the summer camps, we want to do the after-school programs, but we can do all of those better if more people have access."

Diaz says she wants all people to know the forest belongs to them: "This is a place of belonging. … This is a place for you."

Beacon Food Forest will be hosting an open house on May 4, 12—6 p.m., with food, art activities, a plant sale, and live music.

You can meander through the forest to forage anytime you're in the area, but to sign up for classes and workshops, keep an eye on its Eventbrite page, and for structured volunteer shifts and work parties, check out the Beacon Food Forest's events calendar. It hosts weekly Food Forest Fridays as well as work parties every third Saturday of the month. As the weather warms, it will also implement evening work sessions called "Sunset Labs" for "working together or even just hanging out … maybe we'll have some food or have a meeting," Diaz says, "or just enjoy the space in a more relaxed way."

Amanda Sorell is a storyteller who lives in Seattle. She's an editor for the Emerald. Read her newsletter at eClips.Substack.com.

📸 Featured Image: Volunteers at the Beacon Food Forest. Photo courtesy of the Beacon Food Forest.