Sustainable Foraging: A Beginner’s Guide To Harvesting Your Own Food
Foraging is the searching, identifying, and gathering of wild food, including a wide range of plants, mushrooms, herbs, and fruits that grow uncultivated around us. Harvesting wild food has increased in popularity over the past 20 years and has become more than just a cool way to find an organic, fresh, and delicious bounty – it is a way to connect with nature on a deeper level. Foraging cultivates newfound respect for Mother Earth and the tasty, healthy treasures she has to offer. Poking about in fields, woodlands and moutainsides while foraging is a wonderful way to immerse ourselves in our environment and engage all five senses.
With the increase in the popularity of foraging, there is an increase in concern for its effect on the environment. When people are faced with a bounty of free food, they could find it all too easy to get carried away. That’s where sustainable foraging becomes important. Before we discover how to forage sustainably, with our precious environment in mind, let’s look at what ‘Sustainability’ means in this context.
What is sustainability?
Simply put, sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. In other words: it is the ability to support or maintain a process continuously over time; and to exist and develop without depleting our natural resources for the future.
A huge concern on Earth these days is our food system. Today, food production accounts for 25 percent of the greenhouse emissions released into the atmosphere. Beyond that, 70 percent of our freshwater is used for agriculture, and the agriculture industry has caused 60 percent of deforestation to plant more crops.
Now you may be wondering, “Is the food I buy sustainable? How can I eat more sustainably?” Many people believe that foraging is the answer.
Is Foraging Sustainable?
On the surface, foraging seems like a simple solution to the problems with our food system, including sustainability, nutrition, and access. This is all true if foraging is done responsibly. However, some people think that if everyone started foraging, it would destroy biodiversity. Foraging has been around for thousands of years and was (and is) how indigenous cultures survive.
There is mounting evidence that different plant species benefit from responsible patterns of human harvesting. There are examples where certain plant species would actually disappear from the area if we didn’t forage. Diligent foraging prolongs these species.
Another reason foraging promotes sustainability is thanks to all the tasty “invasive” plants out there. A few examples include plants like dandelion, wild carrot, burdock, and lamb’s quarters, as well as garlic mustard, wild parsnip, kudzu, and autumn olive. Foraging these plants causes much less damage to the environment than spraying them with harmful chemicals would. Beyond the invasive plants, there are also the native species that grow and reproduce copiously and are at low risk of endangerment. The sustainability of foraging depends on various factors like the forager as an individual, the species being foraged, the amounts being picked, and the habitat. Sustainable foraging boils down to respect for the land and respect for others – and when done right, foraging is viable.
Tips On Foraging Sustainably
Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a well-practiced forager, here are a few handy tips to ensure we all forage in a sustainable manner to allow this practice to continue for generations to come.
1. Take only what you need and don’t over-harvest
This is probably the number one golden rule of sustainable foraging. Imagine the land you are taking from is yours, and don’t take more than you need or more than you’re going to use. Leaving some behind is not only courteous for other foragers but also ensures that plants or patches can reproduce and be harvested again.
2. Pick only what is in abundance
Only forage for food growing in abundance, and don’t pick the entire plant unless the roots are edible, or it’s one of the invasive varieties. Use a knife to cut off a few mushrooms, or scissors to snip off some of the plant’s top parts. Doing this will ensure you maintain the organism’s ability to reproduce.
3. Use the 1-in-20 rule
Expanding on the above point, a good rule of thumb is the 1-in-20 rule. This means that you should never harvest more than 5 percent of a particular plant or population of plants.
4. Don’t harvest what you can’t identify
Education, before you harvest, is very important. Get to know the plants in your area, and if you are unsure, take a photograph or a small cutting and do some research at home.
5. Forage for invasive species
Many plants that are considered weeds or invasive have huge nutritional and medicinal benefits, and foraging them will free up some space for the native flora.
6. Look where you’re going
Big, clunky hiking boots may be practical for foraging, but if you’re not careful, they can also do some serious damage to the fragile Earth beneath you. Pay attention to where you’re wandering and tread lightly.
7. Leave the environment cleaner than you found it
Please don’t leave your trash behind. There is also no harm in picking up other people’s rubbish. If we are to protect this Earth, we all need to do our part.
In Summary
The key to sustainable foraging is education and respect. If we know what we’re picking and how to use it, and we have respect for nature, there is no way that foraging can’t be sustainable. Foraging is beautiful because it reminds us of our connection and dependence on nature, which will automatically make us more respectful of the land. It’s hard not to feel connected and in awe of Mother Earth when you’re out in the woods, surrounded by the energy of nature, foraging food straight from the ground.