In Urban Foraging: Find, Gather and Cook 50 Wild Plants, herbalist and expert forager Lisa M. Rose puts a metropolitan twist on scavenging for food. From wild apple to wood sorrel, this indispensable guide profiles 50 common edible plants that can be found in the concrete jungle. Interesting recipes show readers how they can transform their harvest into new and creative cooking ideas such as wild apple tarte tatin, honeysuckle honey, and strawberry-knotweed pie. Plus, helpful entries detail how to gather food safely with added notes on further culinary uses and proper harvesting techniques.
It is an encyclopedia of when and how to harvest great finds in your neighborhood. There's a recipe for mugwort bitters, autumn olive BBQ sauce, and wild garlic flatbreads.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
Why did you write this book?
It is my goal to inspire urban dwellers to reconsider the nature that lives nearby -- the wild plants in their lawns, on the playgrounds, in the nearby parks -- all can be a source of nutrition and health.
The intent of this piece is to give guidance on how to safely ID, gather and prepare wild foods that commonly grow in most major cities. In addition to guidance on how to ID and prepare these plants, I provide considerations and cautions that should be thought about before eating plants while out and about in the city. These considerations include - but are not limited to how to assess contaminants in various parts of a city as well as potential contaminants common to certain plants.
The key is to know how to forage safely - from plant identification to knowing the plant’s soils. When it comes to foraging, safety is always top of mind. First, know your plants. Second, know your land. It is up to you - the forager - to become familiar with both the plants and the soils of your region to prevent unwanted illness - even poisoning - from inadvertently harvesting and consuming wild foods in urban environments.
That said - once you find those sweet harvesting spots to pick fresh nettles in the cool, spring air, you most certainly won’t want to return to eating pallid lettuce and spinach leaves sitting ensconced in plastic on the grocery store shelves.
Why is it important for people to be aware of the possibilities of urban foraging?
Wild foods are nutrient dense. Wild foods are a source for unprocessed minerals, an alternative to commercial supplements. They are plants local to our bio-region and grow naturally. This is especially relevant with today’s concerns around water conservation in agriculture. Wild plants are part of our local food system.
How can people use this book even if they aren't in an area where foraging is possible or safe?
Urban Foraging is meant to be taken into the field to help the reader navigate with and connect to the natural world. I hope it inspires - at minimum - to look more closely at the landscapes that surround the reader and grow their curiosity about their own relationship to the place in which they live.
How does foraging lead to a stronger respect for the natural world?
Beyond foraging; regenerative agriculture, progressive land-use policies, and repatriations due to our indigenous communities are strategies we need to heal our soil, waterways and ultimately - our health. This is a jumping off place from which I hope you explore further the issues of urban pollution, soil remediation, water conservation, food security, social justice, climate change, permaculture, and regenerative agriculture practices.
ABOUT
Lisa M. Rose is an herbalist, forager, urban farmer, and writer. With a background in anthropology and a professional focus on community health, she has gathered her food, farming, and wild plant knowledge from many people and places along a very delicious journey. Beyond the Great Lakes, Lisa’s interest in ethnobotany and plant medicine has taken her across the United States and into the Yucatan, mainland Mexico, Nicaragua, and Brazil to study plants, people, health, and their connection to place.
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