Ten years ago, Meredith and Jason Spitalnik, with their band of merry gardeners, planted the first trees in what would become a food, or edible forest at Island Community Farm, the first of now seven garden spaces that Aquidneck Community Table (ACT) stewards.

This fall, we are excited to harvest the first pawpaws and persimmons from our food forest after years of patient nurture and waiting. These first fruits are a cause for celebration, and an example of the planning and determination required to change not only a farm landscape, but also the food system within which farming practices live…