AlterNet: The Ultimate in Eating Local: My Adventures in Urban Foraging

[marmar]

The Ultimate in Eating Local: My Adventures in Urban Foraging

By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted September 5, 2009.

As money has gotten tight and the local-foods movement more popular, urban foraging has become a hit. I spent a day with one forager in San Francisco.




After spending an afternoon with Iso Rabins, it has come to my attention that I have no useful skills. And by useful, I mean the kind that could save my life if I was plucked out of the warm embrace of industrial, consumer society.

I can type with all 10 fingers, but Rabins can do me one better, much better: He can find food.

Having been successfully able to grow one, tiny Meyer lemon, in the last year-and-a-half, I have a fond appreciation for people with fruited vines tangled in their backyard, and green arms, heavy with tomatoes coming out of their pots, and a windowsill alive with herbs.

To be a farmer, even if only on the crammed fire escape of your city nest, is something special and ancient.

But Rabins is another breed, and an older one -- he doesn't grow food, he finds it, and he does so mostly around the city of San Francisco and its neighboring towns and shores. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/environment/142420/the_ultimate_in_eating_local%3A_my_adventures_in_urban_foraging/

[Arcana]

1. That sounds dangerous, most city plants and pests are full of pesticides

And who knows-what.

A better way is to find people who farm in their backyard or as the article mentioned, someone who has a fruit tree, and make sure it's organic and that the person growing the produce isn't sneaking in some Roundup in there. But either way, don't rely on it as your only source of food.

Another way, and this is something people do here in Tucson, is to harvest in wild areas where no pesticides are thrown, you do risk pathogens a bit though. People here do that with Prickly Pears.

[Happyhippychick]

2. Thank you so much for posting this. I loved the article and bookmarked his site.

[joshcryer]

3. sirios (in the comments section) makes a good point, as soon as enough people are doing it...

...there won't be enough supply, so you'll have turf wars or some other kind of "I own this."

It's a cute idea, but overall I don't see it being very helpful for a significant number of people.