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| A lovingly arranged basket of foraged goodies, perfect content for social media |
As foraging becomes more popular for several reasons, I think it is very important to find out how reliable your resources, mentors, and instructors are for your own safety. During the COVID pandemic, we were not allowed to gather with friends and family; many people were somewhat forced to recreate alone or in pods, and a safe place to meet others was outside at a park. Interest in the outdoors and what is found there was a large catalyst for interest in foraging wild plants and mushrooms.We also experienced food shortages at that time so people sought other ways to stretch their abilities to obtain and cook food, turning to gardening and foraging. As the political and global climates are becoming stressed, more people are turning to foraging as a survival tactic in a prepper sense. Demand for content on foraging will always lead to some less experienced "instructors" teaching and very bad books written by "foraging authors" and even AI that may do more harm than good with the bad information being disseminated. Whenever things become monetized and commodified, content may become questionable or even suspect.
Several years ago an Instagram-ready content creator was having a book published about her family's over-romanticized lifestyle which included mushroom and plant foraging. I and others in the established foraging and mushrooming community were sent advance copies, soliciting positive reviews for social media. Many were incredibly horrified by her advice about eating chocolate covered raw mushrooms and multiple other errors in the text, and the book was eventually pulled and not distributed due to safety concerns. Books "written" by AI have fake authors who just magically popped out of the ether without any history of existing, and in this digital age, we all have a searchable background!
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| Our daughter at about 6 months old, trying her first ramps and loving it! |
The same scrutiny should be given to anyone from whom you plan on learning about wild plants and mushrooms you want to eat. Everyone has different learning strengths; for me it is through books and with a live mentor, for my husband it was online videos and with mentors, and our daughter was along for the journey and learned through osmosis--this is our life and she has been living it for 20 years now.
Both Robert and I have culinary backgrounds, so we enjoyed creating recipes with the fabulous flavors that we enjoyed of the foraged foods. I was a pastry chef for 12+ years and Robert worked the line and banquets for several years at restaurants. We have both held Serv-Safe certificates. We would never arrogantly refer to ourselves as "chefs" but we do know how to cook well and in large quantities. Our daughter has been eating these foods since she could eat solids--let me tell you she has an incredible palate for an American.
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| Tropical almonds from Hawaii |
We traveled far on many occasions to find mentors and experienced instructors to teach us how to identify wild plants and mushrooms, several who still teach today. Back in 2005, the internet was unrecognizable as a easily searchable resource, so a lot of our early education was in-person and through books. Videos became more popular, and there are some really great folks creating content (as well as some folks creating crap!) We blogged because Robert is a fantastic photographer, with the photo equipment bill to prove it. All photos we ever share or show are our own, including photos of cooked food. We joined multiple mushroom clubs to learn from some of the best, including classes with the people who wrote the identification guides. Even when going on vacation to tropical locations, we were able to find locals to teach us the amazing tropical edibles to enrich our lives.
My blogging got me a book deal and place in the National Archive, and my book was published in 2016 focusing on family-friendly foraging and some of the easiest/safest to identify wild plants that taste great. Per my contract, I was required to purchase cases of books and sell them at public events, so I approached some libraries and offered to do educational slideshows about foraging in exchange for the opportunity to shill my book. I fulfilled my contract obligations quickly, but the libraries never stopped calling for the slideshows; they ended up being really popular and brought in large groups of enthusiastic students throughout southern New England. We basically were students of wild plant and mushroom identifying for 15 years before feeling confident and educated enough to teach others.
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| Autumn tasting with autumn olive + goat cheese crudite, maitake and wild rice soup, porcini risotto bites, chestnut mousse cups with a twist of beach plum fruit leather |
When we give presentations at libraries, they are free for the public. Soon, I was contacted to come present to nature centers, for garden clubs, at land trusts, and for nearly any other outdoor-based group like fish and game clubs, and I let them set their attendance fees. The past few years we have been sharing a foraged taste or two at each of these presentations, and just in 2024 have we started giving our own walks with full tastings due to demand. Seeing some people call themselves "professional foragers" or teaching about plants or mushrooms which they clearly have no personal experiences with is very frustrating. Sure, they can throw up a social media post that sounds great, but has clearly been copied-and-pasted from another source. A week later they are back on social media asking for identification confirmations! We still take walks with anyone who offers education, but more often come away shaking our heads in confusion, or even clearly concerned with the poor quality and even wrong information being taught by someone representing themselves as a "foraging instructor."
Don't feel shy about asking a potential instructor (who is happy to take your money) about their actual experiences in the fields and forests. Ask them about the resources they used, and ask them for personal anecdotes and preparations. You may be surprised how often they admit they have never worked with or eaten a plant or walked with experienced mycologists in a club, or when they say they have only been foraging for a few years or "watched a video during the pandemic." I am happy to admit I am not an herbalist as that is a whole different set of skills, but I am am a seasoned foraging instructor and cook, with true life experiences. I have given hundreds of FREE presentations and dozens of sponsored walks for organizations. We have cooked for hundreds of people at events and shared food at potlucks for mycological gatherings. We are are always willing to learn more to continue our foraging journey and lifestyle.
Please be safe! My advice: Students Beware!
