Foraging

I accidentally listened to a radio programme today that was discussing foraging. I was shocked and amazed at some of the comments and I've spent a couple of hours mulling over what I heard.

I think foraging is great - I get great satisfaction from going out and about finding food, taking just what I need, thanking nature and going home to prepare food for my family.

I was amazed by many of the negative comments on the radio show in partiuclar the one that implied it wasn't 'natural' and that it's bad for the planet and we should go to the supermarket to get our food!!!!

I've looked at the website for the radio show which said about the show "and the National Trust says that foragers are wrecking the ecosystem."

So I've googled "National Trust and foraging" and what they actually said in the news report from Oct 20th was "There are various codes of conduct for pickers of wild mushrooms and other such produce, the first of which was published in 1998 by Natural England. These typically call on people to act responsibly, show restraint and leave some fungi, fruit or foliage behind.

"These were developed in response to fears that over-picking might harm woodlands and wildlife."

I'm not sure the average forager is that irresponsible and Mother Nature is amazing and far more robust than Natural England is giving her credit for.

So grab a cup of tea and check out Fergus the Forager . Go and see Heart & Soil to buy a beautiful foraging basket Then wrap up warmly and go foraging.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I've never met a forager yet who strips the branches bare. Leave som for the birds and insects is our philosophy

Lou

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