Food Foraging 101: Why everyone should learn to forage

One of the few hobbies that could save your life

Everyone, no matter what part of the world you live in, should learn how to forage for food. There are several reasons why and how it could be knowledge that would save your life one day. We would like to think our world has a safe food supply large enough to feed everyone in the world, but you only have to look at this year’s wild fires in California and the major hurricane that hit Florida to understand huge portions of our food supply can be wiped out in just a day or two.

Many people think foraging means eating nothing but sticks and leaves, but they are wrong. Depending on what grows wild in the area, you can make fruit cobblers, salads, faux fried potatoes, and various teas that have nutritional value. You might be surprised how good edible flowers taste. You can eat them on salads and some can be fried. There is even a tiny flower that grows most everywhere in the USA, that can be dried and ground into a flour to add lots of variety to you diet.

There are herbs growing wild in some areas that can provide healing benefits in case someone in your family gets sick and weeds that can be made into wine, to keep everyone happy. Most people are surprised to learn how much food and medicine is growing in their own yards. You simply need the knowledge to know what to look for and which parts of the plants you can use.

Here’s a few other reasons why everyone should learn how to forage for food in their area.

1. Man-made disasters could shut down the supply chain at any moment. Few people realize stores have only a 3-day supply of food on hand. If the trucks stop rolling, the people go hungry.

2. Natural disasters could destroy buildings, roads and other infrastructure over huge areas. But unless the land has been scraped clean, chances are good you could find wild food.

3. If the economy breaks down and your income stops, how will you buy food for your family. Most people have less than 1 weeks’ worth of food on hand.

4. Even if you have many weeks’ worth of food put back before a disaster, there is always the chance someone or a group of someone’s will take it from you by force. If you don’t know how to forage you would still go hungry.

5. If you are injured and can no longer do your job, can you last for several years till the law suits are over? According to a 2017 GOBankingRates survey, more than half of Americans (57 percent) have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts.

6. If you are struggling to pay your bills, foraging can provide free food to help stretch your budget.

7. If you become lost in the wild, knowing which plants are edible and which are poisonous could mean the difference between life and death.

8. The unexpected death of the head of the house could leave your family with a greatly reduced income and only one (or no) income to cover expenses for months.

9. Foraging is not something you can learn in a short period of time. Many poisonous plants look almost exactly like non-poisonous plants at some stages of their life cycles. You need to look at plants in all stages of their life cycles to have good knowledge of what is edible and what to run from.

10. Once you learn what wild food grows in your area, you can begin to plant them around your home or in nearby forest areas. Wild food plants are slowly decreasing in numbers. You can help to reestablish them and ensure you have a nearby supply of food for emergencies.

11. Learning to forage can be a source of exercise. It gets you out into nature and provides many opportunities for walking.

12. If you do not learn the proper way to forage, you could over harvest or harvest at the wrong time and there will not be any available for the next year.

13. Every area has different wild plants. No single person can teach you every plant in the world. You need to learn what grows in your area and will probably need to find someone in your area to help you learn. This takes time and effort. If you wait till you need the knowledge, chances are you will go hungry.

14. Purchasing a book on edible plants that grow in your area is a good idea, but you still need to see all parts of the life cycle to make sure you are looking at the correct plant. A single mistake could kill you or a family member.

15. Knowing how to forage can make you a valuable commodity in a post disaster community. It could mean the difference in a stronger group killing you and your family, or allowing you to live.

These are some of the main reasons everyone should learn to forage. Other people probably have other reasons. I prefer to look at it from a positive aspect.

It is relaxing to get out into nature and search for food when you don’t need it. Once you need it, if you don’t have the correct knowledge, it becomes scary and the urgency frays your nerves. It is a big boost to your self-esteem to know you can help your family survive no matter what the future holds.

In a worst-case scenario, you can survive with the knowledge. In a best-case scenario, you can get extra exercise and save some cash on your food bill, while never having to use the knowledge.

In Closing

I hope this lesson has helped you make the decision to begin to learn how to forage for food. You can spend hours with your children roaming through the woods and teach them lessons that could someday save their lives. Foraging keeps everyone happier and healthier!

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Love and Peace
From Denise!