The thought of foraging immediately transports one back in time, to a vast expanse of continuous survival, a timeless nutrient pursuit, when all of our food was provided for by Mother Nature’s ‘help yourself larder’. Today, many survive from plastic-wrapped, best-before dated, barcoded food – isn’t it about time we stop looking at food as a product and start to see it as our natural inheritance?
Foraging was of course a necessity, not a novelty, back then, but the pursuit actually opens more doors than may be immediately apparent. Finding food is not the only result, there are the added bonuses of companionship, fitness, fresh air, reconnection, immune boosting, as well as relief from depression and anxiety and no doubt many more as well. Or, it can viewed as a fantastic hobby, encompassing aspects from disciplines as diverse as anthropology, archaeology, nutrition, diet, history, prehistory, geography, botany and biology. Whether out in the countryside, or even amongst the weeds at the back of the local park, foraging can be surprisingly beneficial.