{"id":134,"date":"2021-12-16T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T07:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=51056"},"modified":"2021-12-16T08:20:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T07:20:14","slug":"expert-guide-to-sustainable-foraging","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/expert-guide-to-sustainable-foraging\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert guide to sustainable foraging"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By David Hamilton\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 16 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Foraging, or hunting for wild food, edible plants and mushrooms and more out in nature, has seen a huge growth in the past 20 years. There are now hundreds of foraging<\/a> guides, foraging books and foraging courses springing up in the UK and around the world, and lots of people are discovering the joy of foraging.<\/p>\n

Foraging is beneficial on many levels. Not just a way of finding fresh, delicious food, it also provides a connection with nature and the outdoors \u2013 an opportunity to immerse yourself in a landscape, engaging all five senses.<\/p>\n

In the half-light of an autumn<\/a> woodland<\/a>, our nostrils fill with the delicate musky notes of wild mushrooms, while our ears attune to the dull thuds of falling nuts. We use touch, sight and smell to judge the ripeness of fruits, and we employ our sense of taste to savour the lemony tang of sorrel, the sweetness of raspberries and blackberries, the salty and even peppery tones of seaweeds.<\/p>\n

What is foraging and what does foraging mean?<\/h2>\n
\""Foraged\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Foraged sloes. \u00a9 Tracy Packer Photography\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The word foraging<\/a> comes from forage which, like fodder, used to mean the hay, grass or plant-matter that grazing animals ate. Its definition has expanded to mean hunting or searching for food over an area, and in modern usage it\u2019s come to mean searching for food from wild sources. So for example people might forage for blackberries in autumn, forage for wild garlic in the spring, for forage for edible foods in forests or hedgerows.<\/p>\n

However, sourcing free food from the countryside must be done responsibly. Britain\u2019s wildlife is already under threat from habitat loss, changes in farming methods, pollution and climate change. When added to those problems, it\u2019s clear why inconsiderate foraging can have devastating impacts.<\/p>\n

Foraging and the law in the UK<\/span><\/h2>\n
\""Bladderwrack\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Bladderwrack is a seaweed which is rich in iodine \u00a9 Diane-Macdonald\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Location is key. You should never pick wild food from Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), nature reserves or other protected areas. It\u2019s perfectly legal to forage for fungi, fruit, flowers and foliage elsewhere, as long as it\u2019s for your own consumption and not for commercial gain.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s legal to pick most things that are growing above ground, but illegal to dig up roots, such as burdock, dandelion or chicory, without the landowner\u2019s permission. If you wish to harvest roots, call or email ahead, or ask a passing farmer if on their land.<\/p>\n

Never forage in protected areas