“Let’s eat some pinecones!” So opens Alexis Nikole, an influencer with 4.5 million followers on TikTok, as she guides her followers through making pinecone jam. She is just one of the many foraging influencers taking social media by storm. Here’s a crash course in the who, why, and how of this sensation. 

What are foraging influencers? 

Foragers gather berries, nuts, seeds, leaves, roots, and mushrooms for consumption and appreciation of nature. Basically anything that is edible and grows outdoors is fair game. It’s a way to connect with nature, and results in delicious bites. Wild blueberry pie, kudzu tea, and maple taffy are all treats that come from foraging. 

Internet influencers are hobbyists and professionals who share how they forage with their multitude of followers, which range from dozens to hundreds of thousands. The community of influencers provide guidance on foraging and cooking to newbies and fellow experts. They mainly post on Instagram and TikTok, which has a largely young audience. However, some cross-post on Twitter (now X), BlueSky, and Threads. 

When did foraging start being popular again?

Foraging has a long and storied history. It has been around since humans evolved, but it has gone through cycles of popularity as it became more or less necessary and desirable. 

Indigenous peoples of what is now America foraged for centuries before Europeans arrived. They supplemented their agriculture and hunting with gathering to make meals and medicines. But during colonization, foraging knowledge was often lost as colonizers forcefully removed Indigenous peoples and destroyed traditional food sources. Foraging became an act of resistance to preserve traditional knowledge as Indigenous groups faced forced assimilation. 

Foraging represented survival for enslaved people.“For a lot of people who were enslaved, the way that you beefed up the meager meals or the scraps that you were given was often by supplementing with foraging, with trapping, with fishing,” Alexis Nikole explains. “So that knowledge that was a huge part of early Black culture here in the Americas.” 

Back to the Land followers used it to reject modern society. Foraging played into their ideology of escaping modernity and capitalism. They raised bees, farmed, and lived in intentional communities. Foraging was just one more step in this ability to live outside the economic ideologies of America. 

And in 2020, it cycled back into mainstream culture as COVID-19 lockdowns went into effect. 

Who made foraging popular?

There are a multitude of foraging influencers, including Dr. Gordon Walker and Chaotic Forager who share their knowledge. Chaotic Forager provides information about flowers, fungi, and wild fruit to their 1.1 million followers. Dr. Gordon Walker advises how to forage mushrooms to his 2 million followers. 

But none compare in popularity to Alexis Nikole, AKA the Black Forager. In 2020, she filmed her first video on foraging – sharing what people can eat from around their neighborhood during lockdown. 4 years and 4.5 million followers later, she is still filming videos on foraging – including how to make acorn flour and horseweed extract with easy-to-find ingredients. 

That’s what foraging influencers are all about – encouraging their followers to forage and offering guidance. Their videos are quick, catchy, and attention grabbing, keeping people interested. 

Why do they post?

ChaoticForager posts to share nature and all of its beauty online. She wants to raise awareness of it and why it is so important to protect. 

Alexis Nikole shares foraging online to bring back that knowledge to Black Americans. After the Civil War, laws went into effect to prevent foraging. It was dangerous to be Black in nature, as well as a mark of poverty to forage. As such, there was a move away from natural spaces. Alexis Nikole calls herself  “one of myriad people who is actively trying to combat that.” 

Why is it so popular?

Why it exploded in popularity is more nebulous. Perhaps it’s due to escapism. During the pandemic, people spent more time online and isolated. Finding a community where things seem fun and natural would draw in more people. Since hanging out with people outside a socially isolated group was discouraged, people spent time outside with others and foraging offered an alternative to sitting in a driveway 6 feet apart. 

Maybe it’s because groceries are more expensive than ever. Groceries increased by 13% in 2022, straining budgets even tighter. Being able to reduce some of this spending helps, and influencers make it look so easy.  

Whatever the reason, foraging has made the leap from Back to the Land movement of the 70s to the 2020s. 

How can I start?

There are guides who offer foraging tours in most US cities. They show how to forage ethically and where to start. Dozens of books cover the basics and what to look for in different regions of the world. Foraging influencers are another option. However, the key components don’t change. Only eat what is definitely edible, don’t take too much, and forage where it is legal. And have fun getting back in touch with the Earth!