Our Values
- Reliability/Resilience — We can use plants that, once established in a healthy ecosystem, reliably return year after year with minimal input to help feed hungry citizens in Sioux Falls. We can make ourselves more resilient in the face of impending threats with local, sustainable food systems.
- Community and Knowledge — We can involve the community in the building, maintaining, harvesting, and preserving of the food forests and their yields to teach them how to sustainably grow food, and to simply remind them that they can, given the opportunity.
- Fairness — We can make the food available to anyone at any time, as long as the food is ready for harvest, without needing to provide proof of income. If someone is hungry, curious, or just wants to enjoy fresh, local, healthy food, he or she is welcome to harvest.
- Sustainability — We can set an example of sustainable food production. We can produce nutritious food, provide wildlife habitat, build soil, sequester carbon, and provide areas of serene beauty in and around the city of Sioux Falls.
- Diversity — We can build diversity of plants and animals while embracing the diversity of people in our city.
- Responsibility — We can value the effort and dedication it takes to be responsible for ourselves and for the environment.
- Respect — We can respect each other, respect the land, and respect the plants and animals in the forest gardens.