For those of us who lack the knowledge to hunt and gather our food in the wild, fear not! There is a rising interest in foraged foods and for us lucky West coast folks, there are some great resources on urban foraging.
In the city of Portland there is a widespread interest on personal food production. I do believe that this city leads our nation in the local food movement, or is at least tied with the Bay Area. Out of this saturated community comes urban foraging. I think there is a connection between the local food movement and foraging, specifically the desire to connect to our foods: where they come from, how they are grown and bringing them to our plate. What better way to know the origin and variety of indigenous food then by gathering it yourself.
An excellent resource for the DIY forager is Urban Edibles. As the site clearly states, urban edibles is “a community database of wild food sources in Portland.” It is important to note that the ‘wild foods’ on the database are not necessarily native plant species indigenous to the NW. Instead, the 400+ food types are varieties brought here by settlers from generations past. The database includes dozens of different foods like blackberries, hazelnuts, olives, apples, walnuts, figs, pears, tomatoes and blueberries to name a few. For the novice forager this site is a great way to introduce people to their neighborhood, the larger urban environment and to the process of foraging food. This site enables us urban folk to experience the taste of “grocery store produce” straight from the tree or bush, maybe even down the street from our homes.
Another Portland resource that shares the desire to forage in the city is the Portland Fruit Tree Project. This local organization is made up of city folk who want to teach others how to harvest the various “wild” fruits growing in the city. This is an educational resource; they offer workshops on preserving fruits and nuts. Like Urban Edibles, this organization wants to share the great bounties of fruit to all members of the community. In urban foraging, access to healthy foods is so much more tangible since monetary exchange is absent from the picture.
For those of you who do not live in Portland, I suggest you seek out local foraging groups. The adventure of finding food in the city is a unique experience far better than the farmers market. In general, foraging is the surest way to find local, seasonal and hopefully organic foods. (Food could be sprayed if found along major access roads and would no longer qualify as organic.) For anyone who wants to learn more about urban foraging I also recommend The Rewild Frontier. The author calls himself an “urban scout.” After reading some of the site, it sounds like his goal is to relearn the forgotten skills of hunter/gatherer peoples. His blog is focused on the idea of “rewilding” which suggests that his goal is to “return to a natural state.” In other words, he is teaching himself the skills of a hunter/gatherer so as to be more self-reliant. Even though some folks might find this act of food sourcing extreme, I commend him for wanting that connection to his food and surroundings.
All of this thinking makes me wonder how far some of you will go to connect with your food? Is hunting the carnivore equivalent to gardening?
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I posted my neighbor’s fig tree a couple years ago because she never harvested them and the transients picked them on their way to offload cans at the grocery store. I was surprised at how quickly the number of harvesters increased, and though I posted it as a “check with the owner,” no one ever has.
The same goes outside the city. In many state or national parks visitors are not allowed to remove plants from the woods, but it happens all the time.