In our modern world most people have lost touch with the origin and production of the food they eat. Supermarkets offer an ever expanding array of enticing treats, regardless of seasonality or locality. It is possible to wonder in to almost any major supermarket and smaller speciality shops and purchased food items from a long list of countries, that has been harvested, processed and shipped around the world for your enjoyment.
Whilst this seems like one of the advantages of the modern world, and it seemingly presents the customer (that’s you) with more choice, it has nonetheless created a blandness in our eating habits.
Anyone who has ever surreptitiously picked a home grown strawberry or tomato and popped it in their mouth, can tell you that the flavour, when compared to the equivalent purchased from a supermarket is far superior.
That is one of the reasons many people grow their own food, and still many more wonder why anyone would purchase fruit and vegetable from a supermarket if they didn’t have to.
That is only one part of the formula in getting closer to your own food production. Sure, many people “grow their own” and are quite content to do so. But they are missing out on the joy and discovery of foraging.
As a child my parents would take us “blackberrying” and we’d spend hours collecting the sweet berries, and eating as many as we’d put in the container to take home, where my mother would make Blackberry Jam. This wasn’t an unusual thing. We’d see many other families doing the same thing. Even today, there are still many families who go blackberry picking. This is the extent of most people’s foraging activities, however, there is an abundance of wild food out there if you know where, and what to look for.
First, a word about safety. There are poisonous plants and berries growing in the wild, just as there are tasty, edible, safe plants and berries. It is important that you only eat something you can positively identify. Purchase a good field guide with coloured photos, or preferably go foraging with an experienced practitioner. There are training courses available, but it is far better to accompany an experienced forager.
Secondly, it is important to abide by the law, and also to be respectful of the countryside.
In summary, here are the essential rules of foraging :
- DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EAT ANYTHING YOU CANNOT POSITIVELY IDENTIFY AND DEEM SAFE.
- USE A COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC FIELD GUIDE AND ACCOMPANY AN EXPERIENCED FORAGER UNTIL YOU ARE CONFIDENT.
- PUT EFFORT INTO LEARNING ABOUT THE PLANTS AND THIER EVOLUTION THROUGH THE SEASONS.
- TAKE CARE NOT TO FORAGE ON POLLUTED OR HAZARDOUS LAND.
- TAKE ONLY SMALL QUANTITIES, LEAVING SOME OF EACH THING YOU TAKE.
- ABIDE BY THE LAW OF THE LAND AND BE RESPECTFUL OF THE COUNTRYSIDE.
