Who, what, why: Is foraging fruit legal? (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

In recent years, people have begun to cotton on to the culinary riches that surround us in parks, forests and hedgerows. There is a vogue for foraged food, driven by high-profile chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as well as concerns about food miles and spending cuts.

And it has been a particularly bountiful autumn, with bumper crops of apples, pears and plums, blackberries, sloes and hawthorn berries, and mushrooms of all types.

But if you don't own the land on which it grows, can you legally pick it? The Theft Act 1968, for England and Wales, states that:

"A person who picks mushrooms growing wild on any land, or who picks flowers, fruit or foliage from a plant growing wild on any land, does not (although not in possession of the land) steal what he picks, unless he does it for reward or for sale or other commercial purpose."

And the Scottish Outdoor Access Code allows foraging, but again, not for commercial use.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11584156




This article covers law in the British Isles, but I thought it might be interesting food for thought in USA as well ... considered posting in Farm/Rural, but thought people in Frugal/Sustaining Living might also be interested.

This topic has been on my mind after indulging in wild persimmons recently :) :Homer gurgle:

[ret5hd]

1. Are you calling my poor deceased grandmother a common CRIMINAL???

[sinkingfeeling]

2. I think in America, you're just shot for trespass.

[Dogtown]

3. My property is posted

for a reason.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. Does that apply to trees? n/t

[uncommon]

5. As long as it isn't private property I think it should be fine.

Of course, soon enough everything will be private property.

I dumpster dive on occasion for certain items. I don't feel guilty about it.