Foraging
In search of wild salad, forager finds chickweed, mallow, prickly lettuce, shepherd's purse, sow thistle, Siberian elm, in downtown D.C.; illustrated "Edible Wild Plants" offers tips
By Nancy Shute
National Public Radio 2011-04-18
In "Pacific Feast," a book that's part natural history, part foraging guide and part cookbook, author hopes to spur conservation, ecology understanding through palate
By Kie Relyea
The Bellingham Herald (WA) 2011-04-10
Opinion: New shift in food politics - eating invasive species - could include a world of possibilities - deer, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, skunks, rabbits, woodchucks
By James Gorman
The New York Times 2011-01-02
Despite legal, ethical, safety questions, foraged food finds favor with California chefs and their customers, who begin to see plants around them in a new light
By Janny Hu
San Francisco Chronicle 2010-07-15
Mushroom seekers in steep, damp slopes of Italian mountains are abandoning safety procedures, donning camouflage, hunting in darkness and secret; 17 have died in 9 days
Reuters; Los Angeles Times 2010-09-02
Lured by peanut-butter sandwich inside, black bear clambers into unlocked Toyota, takes a ride
By Phil Gast
CNN 2010-07-24
Pennsylvania's Lancaster Farmacy draws on folk remedies that combine herbs with food, drawing on natural affinities, flavors to make medicine more palatable
By Elisa Ludwig
The Philadelphia Inquirer 2010-07-08
With cod, sea urchins overfished, fight brews in Maine over seaweed harvesting
By Robert Tomsho
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2010-01-04
Weed extract shows promise against diet-related disease
Kudzu, long used as health food in China, Japan, shows promise in fight against metabolic syndrome. After two months of taking root extract, rats in study had lower cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and insulin levels than control group. Invasive vine covers 10 million acres in South. And: Study shows kudzu's ability to cut alcohol consumption (click 'See also').
Science Daily 2009-08-27
Fruit trees ready-made for sharing, urban foragers believe
Urban fruit foragers look around cities, see trees full of fruit and think, 'Delicious.' Underground fruit economy is growing across country, building community. Supporters hold two basic principles: It's a shame to let fruit go to waste; neighborhood fruit tastes best when it's free. And: In Seattle, volunteers harvest unwanted fruit, deliver it to local food banks and meal programs (click 'See also').
By Kim Severson
The New York Times 2009-06-10
Politics of rainwater harvests, illegal cisterns in arid Colorado
Ancient practice of capturing rainwater illegal in Colorado. Rainwater, it says, should flow into surrounding creeks and streams, to reach farmers, ranchers, others that have bought waterway rights. Colorado has more claims than water. Study shows 97 percent of rainwater that falls on soil never makes it to streams. Bills in Colorado, Utah propose adjusting for pilot projects, drought-depleted rural areas.
By Nicholas Riccardi
Los Angeles Times 2009-03-18
Homesick author's menu is American food at its best
Mark Twain's fanciful 80-dish Thanksgiving dinner menu drew on wild bounty. Now, some foods on his list are extinct and others are known only by hunters, fishermen. Preserving or restoring wild foods begins with joy of marshes, mountains, lakes. We must learn from his premise: Losing a wild food means losing part of the landscape of our lives. And: Observing the prairie hen, by John J. Audubon, in 'The Birds of America' (click 'See also').
By Andrew Beahrs
The New York Times 2008-11-26
Economic crisis dwarfed by cost of forest loss
Annual forest loss cost of $2 trillion to $5 trillion dwarfs current economy problems, analyst says. As forests decline, nature stops providing free services- clean water and food for foraging, plus absorption of carbon dioxide. Heartening signs: developing trade in natural ecosystems (similar to carbon trade); attention of government, business officials.
By Richard Black
BBC 2008-10-10
Witching for water on parched California farmland
With second year of drought already causing $260 million in crop damage and pushing farm layoffs, restrictions on water use, and hard times for tractor dealerships and roadside diners, some California farmers turn to old-fashioned dowsers. Practitioners walk the land, carrying forked willow branches or other objects that tug downward inexplicably at the presence of water.
By Jesse McKinley
The New York Times 2008-10-09
Gleaning builds food pantries, community simultaneously
As food prices increase, urban and rural citizens engage by growing their own food as well as noticing the neglected harvests around them. Gleaning an overabundance of zucchini, or pears to stock food pantries, experts say, ties the community together.' And: In Seattle, Community Fruit Tree Harvest sends volunteers to harvest, then deliver produce to local food banks and meal programs.
By Patricia Leigh Brown
The New York Times 2008-09-14
Fungus fest
With 100 grams going for $850, the scent of a fungus draws buyers to Alba. But other Italian towns, including the medieval village of Gubbio, want their share of the truffle market and struggle to distinguish themselves, whether by truffle DNA, a map or by naming a variety.
By Gabriel Kahn
Wall Street Journal 2007-11-09
Opting out:
Inspired by environmental justice and groups that feed the homeless with surplus food, freegans in New York eschew capitalism and scavenge for groceries in the 50 million pounds of food garbage discarded annually; they favor D'Agostino's, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.
By Erika Hayasaki
Los Angeles Times 2007-09-11
Off the land:
Despite day jobs, couple hunt, fish and gather about a third of the food they eat, using a nearly comprehensive mental map of Seattle foraging spots to relish what they call unbelievably bountiful land.
By Huan Hsu
Seattle Weekly 2007-08-08
Sticky situation:
Bane and benefit both, blackberries cover the Oregon landscape with a thorny thicket but are high in antioxidants, show promise in tumor reduction, are a high cash crop, a primary food source for honeybees and other pollinators - and they're tasty as well.
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard (OR) 2007-08-11