A ‘fruit forest’ by Chennai Rotaractors Kiran Zehra
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muddy pathway behind the Aarupadai Veedu Institute of Technology (AVIT), Chennai, leads to a green patch of land, that has now been cleaned and cleared of garbage dumped in it, and the wild bushes pruned. The space now boasts of a ‘fruit forest’ being set
up by RAC AVIT, RID 3232. “We had the whole campus abuzz when we walked in with forks, shovels, and spades,” quips club president B S Kavin Harshith, adding that “many non-Rotaractors helped us in the cleanup and digging pits to plant 100 fruit saplings.” This year the club wanted to start a sustainable project and
“with the help of our partners — RC Chennai Spotlight and Delfingen Foundation, Chennai, we could make this happen,” he says. A fruit or food forest is “a powerful way to grow food by mimicking the structure of a forest. It is like the Miyawaki forest, except that it can help you work with nature to grow
more food with fewer resources.” Deeksha, the project chair, came across the term ‘food forest’ when her team was researching ideas. “Keeping in mind the space we had and our desire to do a sustainable project, this sounded like a good idea. Everybody in the club was excited when we spoke about growing and harvesting local fruits
Rotaractors after performing a flash mob at a mall in Chennai. 26 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2023
