Media Release – Fruit Foraging in the Cider Industry Research Project
August 9, 2022
Contact: Maria Kennedy, maria.kennedy@rutgers.edu
Apple foraging among New York’s cider producers has slowly grown from a grassroots practice to become a regionally important phenomenon. Dr. Greg Peck of Cornell University and Dr. Maria Kennedy of Rutgers University are beginning a collaborative research project in August of 2022 to understand the impacts of fruit foraging on rural communities and in New York State’s cider industry.
The research project, based at Cornell University, is funded by a grant from the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. The project will employ undergraduate student research assistants and work with the New York Cider Association as a community partner.
The researchers will collect survey and interview data from a broad range of participants to assess the range of foraging practices throughout the state. The project will primarily engage with people who forage apples for commercial cider production, but anyone who forages for apples
is welcome to fill out a brief online survey to submit information to the project. The survey link can be found
at https://airtable.com/shr1IJQIBAPqWy2nN.
Researchers may contact individuals directly for further information or participation in the project. Fruit and leaf samples will be collected from a selected number of participants for lab analysis, which will investigate the qualities of the fruits being collected by foragers and determine whether the trees used for cider production are known varieties or wild seedlings.
More information on the project can be found on the website: https://foragedfruitproject.com/
Dr. Peck is an Associate Professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science Horticulture Section at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. For over a decade he has studied cider apple production and genetics. He also co-teaches a cider production course to more than 100 undergraduate students each spring. More information about Dr. Peck’s work can be found at: https://hardcider.cals.cornell.edu/. Contact Greg for questions about the horticultural and genetic aspects of the project: gmp32@cornell.edu
Dr. Kennedy, an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of American Studies at Rutgers University, has conducted ethnographic research on the cider industry in the United Kingdom and the United States. Her academic training is based in folklore studies, cultural geography, media studies, and public humanities. She has also worked in public arts organizations in New York, New Jersey, and Indiana. Contact Maria for questions about setting up an interview or queries about the general purpose and social impacts of the project: maria.kennedy@rutgers.edu
