Like most children, I was taught to not eat things I found in the woods. A generally sound piece of advice, I was astounded when I saw my friend pick something off a bush in the woods and pop it in her mouth. She assured me she wouldn’t die, and told me that she was eating wild blueberries. I was intrigued, so she kept pointing out a buffet of edible things on our walk. Pine needles, dandelions, chicken of the forest mushrooms, wild raspberries. Since then, I have been fascinated by foraging. 

Foraging is the act of harvesting wild fruits, nuts, plants, and mushrooms for consumption. While it has been around as long as humans have existed, its popularity is booming now – which wasn’t always the case.  

While foraging used to be normal for most of humanity’s existence, it became less common over time as grocery stores became bigger and more wide-spread. Getting lost in the woods grew unnecessary when food was available without having to hunt for it. To me and most others, it is far easier to click ‘order’ on Instacart than go through the woods looking for non-poisonous mushrooms and berries. 

Additionally, it is not always possible. Even if I didn’t know how to forage, at least I lived near woods where it was allowed and easy to do. This is not the case for most city dwellers. There are not as many plants, the soil is often contaminated, and most land belongs to someone. Foraging is also illegal in many parks and national lands. Identifying what is edible, where foraging is allowed, and not getting arrested in the process takes some effort. As such, foraging fell out of favor for almost everyone who did not live in or near wilderness. 

But recently, it has been becoming a popular hobby that many, including me, have picked up. With the COVID-19 pandemic pushing more people outside and into escapism, foraging re-entered the mainstream. There are foraging influencers who share advice on what they pick and how to prepare healthy meals with the bounty on almost every social media platform. Influencers like @BlackForager on Instagram have encouraged their followers to take up the hobby. Like crocheting, it was a dying art that thousands of young people took up to live slower and more purposefully. 

For some, like my friend who taught me, foraging is done out of environmental concerns. Transporting food accounts for 3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent emissions a year – that’s 8% of global emissions. Foraging doesn’t create a carbon footprint anywhere close to that big. Others forage because it is a free way to get produce. For some, like me, it is a way to connect with nature. Whatever the reason, foraging is having a comeback moment. 

But just as the popularity of foraging has changed, so has the planet. Native plants are being pushed out by invasive species and climate change. This alters what can be taken and makes it harder to start or keep foraging. The boom in foraging has also stressed ecosystems. With more people harvesting areas, ecosystems are being overused. Some places have adopted regulations to minimize this, but it is not a perfect solution. If foraging is not done ethically, the environment and humans will be harmed. As foraging and the Earth evolve, it is important to understand the process and how it is changing. 

Foraging, a seemingly simple act, is far from it. I will be exploring how climate change affects foragers, how foragers affect nature, ethical foraging, its history and growth in pop culture, and how it can help reduce emissions. Picking blueberries is just scratching the surface of this complex topic.