The Future of Foraging
Introduction
Insecurity, supply chains, and access to food are present sustainability challenges and they will likely worsen in the future. While the Green Revolution provided a quick fix to Malthusian concerns about agricultural yields for growing populations, other traditions of self-sustenance were set aside. One such strategy was wild foraging and gathering which has been part of Indigenous knowledge (IK) for millennia. These practices demonstrate many beneficial cultural, behavioral, and economic values ultimately connecting people to nature as a food source. There are communities of people who actively enjoy mushroom hunting for its outdoor recreation and unique culinary options as a form of foraging. With this already existing in common culture, wild and urban plant foraging is a suitable side avenue to take. As such, larger efforts to conserve natural areas for valuable experiences along with the benefits of supplemental nutrition could result from increasing foraging.
"Could plant foraging serve as another means of sustainably supplying food in the United States
considering the practicality and productivity of the practice?"
Got to Have Goals!
Could plant foraging serve as another means of sustainably supplying food in the United States considering the practicality and productivity of the practice? The parts of answering this question include presenting sustainable foraging practices from IK, quantifying possible yields from plant foraging, discussing possible distribution methods for foraged foods, discussing possible required management for foraging areas, and discussing possible effects of culture and behavior by changing diets to include more foraged food. Hunger is among the many threats imposed by climate change, and, alongside technological solutions, foraging could be another way to supplement, diversify, and bolster our supply and source of food. While mostly considered within anthropology or casual mycology, the interdisciplinary nature of the environmental science field should look into the gaps and potential of various forms of foraging, especially in North America, by first accurately quantifying the possible amount of foraged food return.
The Literature
The most cohesive study on the idea in question that looks into feasibility, ecology, IK, and quantities of foraging is “Return rates from plant foraging on The Cape South Coast: understand early human economies,” (Botha, 2020). This study takes an anthropological approach and considers other tangential food production methods such as minor prescribed burns. However the foraging strategies are highly specific to the local environment of South Africa, and reflective work has not been conducted in North America. Still relevant is the experiment model for measuring the productivity of bouts and working with indigenous groups. Replication of the methods presented in the study would be informative and provide primary empirical data.
(Botha, 2020)
Along with many other articles advocating for expanding the knowledge base to include Indigenous epistemology (Gurney et al., 2015; Lynn et al., 2103; Priadka, 2022; Teetl’it Gwich’in Renewable Resources Council, 2006; ), Kimmerer’s decorated book Braiding Sweetgrass (2015) is an application of such advocacy. In the chapter “The Honorable Harvest,” Kimmerer outlines traditional rules of foraging such as limiting collection to half, leaving a mark to signal an area has been harvested, and never taking the first individual you find. Further research has not revealed any peer-reviewed publications considering these practices. This Indigenous theory and the sustainable practices will be a base construct of the research.
A common kind of foraging currently is mushroom hunting or mycology. Methodologies, identification guides, and recreational management plans are widely published and logistically sound. Communities who engage in this activity already have a connection to nature as food and may have mindsets applicable to plant foraging (Kaaronen, 2020). A source with specific yield measurements has not been published, likely to do the large variability by seasonality or locational features, but this is still an informative sub-field of foraging.
Reference texts are fundamental to considering the ecological vegetation communities for the means of harvesting and availability of forage-able plants (MSU, 2015; MI DNR, (n.d.). According to the report Natural Communities of Michigan: Classification and Description, there are over 35 varied terrestrial community types in Michigan, each with unique fauna (Kost, 2010).
Additionally, cookbooks for foraged food demonstrate a public interest in this as a unique culinary resource (Shaw, 2022). While not always traditional in academic pursuits, these realms of the literature are telling of the general public interest in foraging; whether or not people would eat wild plants.
Finally, without applicable empirical data for foraged wild food in our ecosystem, urban gleaning may support the effort of supplementing the food supply. While still only estimations, the distribution of fruiting trees and other edible ornamental plants in developed areas is another realm to consider (Wilson, 2011). The initial impression from the study of the sustainability of urban foraging is limited due to higher demand and population densities than in more rural, forested areas. From these various realms of content, the literature provides a wealth of information for further exploration.
Methods and Theory
This research entails mixed methods collecting both quantitative and qualitative data by empirical measurements and surveys respectively. GIS of the environment in the study area will be used to determine the number and range of vegetation in southern Michigan including watershed considerations, ecological surveys, and fauna dispersion estimates.
From that information, foraging sites will be selected to ensure representation of each vegetation type. Next in preparation is gathering volunteers to perform the foraging bouts. Ideally, the participants have a range of backgrounds and experience by engaging local tribes, nearby residents, students, and volunteers. To control for possible hazards and ensure a common base level of knowledge, a basic instructional session on honorable harvest practices will be hosted and ID booklets will be provided. With some variation between tribal traditions, the tenets of the Honorable Harvest are as follows: ask permission of the ones whose lives you seek and abide by the answer, never take the first, never take the last, harvest in a way that minimizes harm, take only what you need and leave some for others, use everything that you take, take only that which is given to you, share it as the Earth has shared with you, be grateful, reciprocate the gift, and sustain the ones who sustain you, and the Earth will last forever (Kimmerer, 2015).
The participants then perform 30-minute bouts at each site with unrestricted space within the given location. At the end of the trial, the foraged food will be gathered, measured by weight, and logged. Also following each trial, the participants will complete a survey with questions on past experience, perceived worthwhileness/success of the bout, and other qualitative points of the activity. Participatory information will also contribute to the data. With the logged foraging and survey data comprehensive analyses will be performed. Dietitian expertise will be needed to analyze the caloric and nutritional value of the foraged food including the weights, species, adjustments for non-edible parts, and exerted efforts. Informed perspectives such as a tribal interpretation will help organize the survey data. The study results will determine if foraging for food is a viable sustenance strategy.
Justification and Threats to Validity
The theoretical research approach entails pragmatism along with considering the critical issues of foraging traditions and food access, and post-positivism in the collection of empirical data. The variety of data in the study design will bolster the validity of our results. The selection of sites with attention to all vegetation types will minimize skewing from more or less productive areas. Additionally, the inclusion of a range of experience levels of the foragers will best represent an “average” possible yield. The surveys will also serve as a means to adjust for increased foraging proficiency acquired over the course of the study. The instructional session with the basis of the theory and practices for Honorable Harvest will ensure sustainable actions and prevent an over-representation of yield. It can be assumed, with variation between individual species, similar yields can be expected for the future with strategies of the Honorable Harvest. Lastly, expert assistance in analyzing the data for both nutrition and the survey results will produce the most complete understanding. However, a few threats to validity persist. The first of which is the effects of climate change on the distribution of previously foraged plants. Modeling these ecological changes on the scales and at the number of sites that are a part of the study is beyond the scope of this research. Next, the utilization of volunteers may skew the interest in foraging, as well as the practicality in committed time and effort, compared to the general public. The instruction of volunteers on Honorable Harvest theory could also be a point of differentiation from “true” foraging, but without consideration of sustainability, any new food system would not be a viable consideration to food supply and access. Finally, the scope of the study will limit the geographic range in which foragers can travel to complete bouts, so further areas with different foraging conditions and therefore different degrees of applicability for a foraging food system can not be researched fully. These aspects will be taken into consideration in the analysis of the results to address concerns of validity.
Example of forested vegetation type
Example of grassland-dunes vegetation type
Sources
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Kimmerer, R. W. (2015). Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.
Kost, M. A., Albert, D. A., Cohen, J. G., Slaughter, B. S., Schillo, R. K., Weber, C. R., & Chapman, Kim A. (2010). Natural Communities of Michigan: Classification and Description. https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/reports/MNFI-report-2007-21.pdf
Lynn, K., Daigle, J., Hoffman, J., Lake, F., Michelle, N., Ranco, D., Viles, C., Voggesser, G., & Williams, P. (2013). The impacts of climate change on tribal traditional foods. Climatic Change, 120(3), 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0736-1
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