Toban Black

An "Eat Wild" mud stencil

That image was cropped out of a photo from a page on mudstencils.com. This statement is posted on the same page -

“Wild food is plants and animals that are not farmed, grown, or raised for human consumption. Wild food is nutritious, and finding it makes you more aware of your environment. Wild food is all around us, even in urban environments, most just overlook it and disregard it as weeds and nuisances. The dandelion is the prime example of that mentality. Dandelion greens can be eaten before the plant blooms and becomes bitter, the bright yellow flowers can also be eaten or fermented into dandelion wine. Dandelion roots can be roasted and ground into a tasty coffee substitute. Instead of gathering these plants many people poison them with dangerous herbicides to maintain their monoculture lawn. Incorporating wild food into your diet will broaden your pallet and lead to exciting adventures. When gathering, it is important to know exactly what you have before you eat it, and the proper way to prepare it. One part of a plant may be delicious while another part is poisonous. Field guides are great, an expert you can personally learn from is better.”

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Tara Lohan on urban foraging -

“All of a sudden, you can see things — food — where there wasn’t any before. The weed you might be stepping over of the sidewalk with out even noticing — that’s purslane, and its stems and leaves are great in salad or you can cook it up. It’s packed with iron, beta carotene, Vitamin C and other healthy stuff. It’s also a secret source of omega-3 fatty acids.”

“Where I live on the West Coast, the trees are heavy with fruit, so much of which goes to waste, even while people in the city go hungry. Thankfully, several groups have stepped up to help with this problem.” (Then Lohan gives some examples.)

“[Urban foraging is] really just something you have to learn.”

“It’s really true what they say: The best things in life are free.”

(The rest of that article is worthwhile. I recommend that you at least read the “Growing community” section, which starts on page 3.)

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Kyra on her ActionSpark blog -
“Eating wild foods in the city”

Laurel Atkinson on the Not Far From the Tree blog -
“All around the mulberry bush”

Theresa C. on the New Resilient blog -
“Using edible, functional weeds”

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Here are some related posts on this blog -
http://tobanblack.net/blog/?tag=local-food