---
title: UMD Researchers Help Hyattsville’s Food Forests Look to the ‘FEWture’
date: 2023-09-22T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/umd-researchers-help-hyattsvilles-food-forests-look-to-the-fewture"
section: Articles
---
# UMD Researchers Help Hyattsville’s Food Forests Look to the ‘FEWture’

*September 22, 2023* — by [Heidi Scott ’09](/author/heidi-scott-09)


> Pawpaws, Persimmons and Beach Plums: Edible Ecosystems to Become More Resilient

*004 A4755 1920x1080 — Passersby seeking a snack or salad ingredients will find more than apples, strawberries and walnuts in Hyattsville’s two food forests, where (pictured at left) members of UMD's Global FEWture Alliance and community leaders have teamed up to improve water and energy efficiency.*

On a former gravel parking lot in Hyattsville, Md., next to the old freight rail line and across from an auto repair shop, the hazelnuts have gone nuts.

Pawpaws, figs, persimmons, kale and lemony sorrel are among two dozen varieties of fruits, nuts, greens and legumes that grow in the Emerson Street Food Forest, one of the [city’s two edible landscapes](https://www.hyattsville.org/902/Food-Forests), which double as outdoor gathering spaces. Now University of Maryland researchers and students from the Global FEWture Alliance are teaming up with the community’s leaders to improve their water and energy efficiency.


*pawpaw next to sign with QR code*



[Food forest](https://view.genial.ly/650b1a4c86f81a0010446c40)

[Accessible alternative](https://umd-today.files.svdcdn.com/production/files/today/Emerson-Street-Food-Forest.txt?dm=1754704633)



**Sidebar note:**

The Global FEWture Alliance led by Amy Sapkota also includes the following faculty members working on the Maryland FEWture team: Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein, assistant professor in the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health; Jen Cotting, director of UMD’s Environmental Finance Center; Shirley Micallef, professor of plant sciences and landscape architecture; Stephanie Lansing, professor of environmental science and technology; and Allen Davis, Charles A. Irish Sr. Chair in Civil Engineering. Find the full list of international collaborators on the alliance’s [People page](https://globalfewture.umd.edu/people).

---

Co-principal investigator Jen Cotting previewed the alliance’s future work in this [recent webinar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-FMxcvLoKM).





**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Food](https://today.umd.edu/topic/food), [Grand Challenges](https://today.umd.edu/topic/grand-challenges), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [School of Public Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-health)