We are a small community of friends dedicated to growing the Cookeville Food Forest and Foraging Path—a project aiming to create the largest public food forest in the country, right here in the Upper Cumberland. This initiative was inspired by one woman's vision to provide "tens of thousands of pounds of free, fresh, nutritious food to her community for a hundred years."

Driven by a desire to address food insecurity and promote sustainable living, the idea of the food forest took root as a bold community-driven solution. In December 2023, a grant from the TN Department of Agriculture's Urban and Community Forestry Program provided the needed catalyst. The Friends of the Food Forest partnered with the City of Cookeville's Department of Leisure Services and the GFWC Cookeville Jr. Woman's Club to apply for the grant.

In May 2024, we received the exciting news that the Cookeville Food Forest and Foraging Path was awarded $250,000!

Now, we invite you to join us on this extraordinary journey. This isn't just about planting trees or growing food; it's about sowing the seeds of change and building a legacy of abundance for generations to come, creating a model for landowners and other rural communities to follow.

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