The Innovation Food Forest is located next to Innovation Hall and the Johnson Center on the Fairfax campus. It is a garden designed using permaculture (permanent agriculture) and was created in 2013 by Elizabeth Torrens after she was inspired by the Permaculture Design Certification Course hosted on Mason’s campus in 2012. The Innovation Food Forest is an ecological model and an educational resource for the George Mason University campus.
The site has since then been managed by University Sustainability, which hires staff to maintain it. The primary purpose of a food forest is to restore the natural cycles, biodiversity, and habitat of a forest (capturing and using energy, water, and other resources) while providing sustainable (perennial) food sources for people and wildlife.
You can sign-up to volunteer at the Food Forest through Knack, our latest online software management website. You will need to create an account on Knack with your GMU email (or personal email if you are not a student, faculty or staff). Click the link below to get started. Learn more about our Greenhouse and Gardens Academic Internship Program.
