Groundswell Talks: Rebecca Lerner, Urban Forager

(Milwaukee-based street artist and object maker Jesse Graves is a guest blogger for Groundswell.)

Rebecca Lerner, a reporter and urban forager living in Portland Oregon, recently attempted to survive only on wild edibles she gathered in her city.  Lerner wrote about her experiences each day and included descriptions on what she ate and how to eat it.  Below Lerner responds to questions about wild foods place in contemporary United States.

Jesse Graves: Is foraging for you a subversive act undermining the way we have been trained to eat?

Photos courtesy of FirstWays.com.

Rebecca Lerner: Foraging for wild food is a positive direct action, an affirmation that we are still wild animals fed by the Earth, that we are still in touch with our ancient roots despite the constructs of modern civilization, and that the wilderness has practical value for us. We don’t need to tame it or control it in order to flourish. When the human population is in balance with the Earth, it is possible to live without farming or gardening. Foraging is a radical act because it shows that we can eat for free and survive without supermarkets or biotechnology or money. And it is way of eating local, an alternative to the excess of agri-business. But it is irrational to seek to undermine agriculture in all its incarnations. Small-scale organic farming, for instance, can be a wonderful thing. We are far too overpopulated right now to be able to exist on foraging alone so I do not see value in seeking to destroy that which sustains us.

JG: A common concern of those unfamiliar with foraging is the perceived danger eating some poisonous plant. Where does this concern come from, and how do the dangers of foraging compare to the dangers of the typical American diet?

RL: It can be tempting to romanticize nature and believe that all apprehension about foraging stems from the flawed teachings of civilization, but the truth is that there really are poisonous plants that can kill you or severely incapacitate you, so it is valid and legitimate to feel some fear about eating plants that you are totally unfamiliar with. It is important to know what you are eating when you go out foraging in the wild. If you mistake poison hemlock for wild carrot, you will die a violent and painful death. On the other hand, wiIld plants tend to offer more rewards than farmed foods. They have more vitamins and minerals because they have to struggle to survive and draw in more nutrients in order to do so. They also have medicinal properties absent in most farmed foods.

JG: Why do you think the knowledge of how to hunt and gather wild food is absent from our society?

Photos courtesy of FirstWays.com.

RL: Hunting and gathering has become irrelevant in modern society because all of our food comes from agribusiness and supermarkets. It just magically appears on demand, so our knowledge of hunting and gathering has ceased to seem useful and has thus faded. Our instincts are still there. Shopping is a lot like foraging, and that may be why people seem so hooked on it.

JG: After experiencing how difficult it is to survive only on gathered food do you have a newfound appreciation for what you eat?

RL: I am grateful for the incredible abundance we have due to farming. I also realize that I can eat a lot less than I usually do and survive just fine.

JG: How do we teach children to appreciate their food and understand where it comes from in a country of abundant and convenient food?

RL: By learning about local wild plants via plant walks and books, people can recognize our ancient plant friends and realize that food grows all around us, that it exists free of charge everywhere.

Lerner’s week of wild food was about learning how to forage, connect with the natural world, and understand what types of food need to be eaten to sustain oneself.  Read about the whole experience at news/essays on Culture Change.  Learn more about foraging from Learner and First Ways, and view her portfolio at Rebecca Lerner.