A Year in the Woods Eating Wild Food
by Bonnie Alter, London on 05.28.08
Fergus Drennan is a t.v. star, best known for his show "The Roadkill Chef" and now, as of April Fool's Day, he is living for a year entirely off wild food found in the forest. Most notorious because he only eats meat from dead animals he finds along the road, he has a fascinating story to tell of commitment to the environment and sustainability. He used to earn his living finding and delivering exotic fresh wild ingredients to some of London's smartest restaurants. Now he runs seminars in the wild, teaching others to forage for themselves, has a blog, and is writing a cookbook.
His entire day is spent searching and preparing food. He gets up at 5 in the morning and thinks "Which woods am I going to today?" He snacks on hairy bittercress and eats nettle soup. Time management is an incredible issue. For example he spent four days just collecting rosehips. That makes a lovely syrup but then what? Juicing two baskets of apples to make vinegar takes precious time and this has to be balanced with the amount of energy expended versus caloric return. He is a thoughtful and introspective guy, as one would have to be to survive this regimen. He reads, meditates, practices Taijiwuxigong and wishes he had a girlfriend. As he says; "Real being? Awakening? Foraging Buddahood or perhaps just fool's gold?" Follow his progress day by day. :: Fergus Drennan Via :: The Ecologist
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This is an awesome story! Thanks for bringing it to our attention. This has been the year I returned to my foraging roots and I'm glad to see its [seemingly] increase in popularity. I know its more popular (or accepted) in the UK than in the US but I am meeting more and more people that are ok with eating weeds and rodents.
I remember every Easter going to Southern Ilinois to see my Aunt. Everyone would go to the woods to find wild Morrells. Basketfuls of these mouth watering mushroom.Now after 40 years I"m scared off of even touching any wild mushroom. Good and bad. I would love to forage for ediable woods plants, and intend to study and start this new life in a few months, when I move to NC. I hope there are others in the area to help and enjoy this with me!
This is a fun story, and it certainly makes a good case for the use of local ingredients, but I'm not sure how "sustainable" it could be. If everyone foraged like Fergus, those woods would be picked clean in no time. Foraging lifestyles are inherently nomadic, which would effectively eliminate any time Fergus has now for reading or meditating. The problematic issue, as noted in the post above, is one of time. It's only settlement and agriculture that gives human beings time for cultural and scientific advancement, and while I think a healthy bit of foraging and use of natural, local ingredients can enhance any green diet, it cannot in itself be a solution, or a sustainable practice.
@Nick: That's because there are too many people and too little forest. It isn't sustainable because we've already ruined the world. Up until a few thousand years ago this would have been the norm. It's definitely sustainable, just not today.
Well said, Nick.
Foraging is fascinating and I would like to find some experienced local guides, especially when it comes to mushrooms, but I think the happy medium is Forest Gardening. This involves cultivating an area that approximates a natural ecosystem but whose trees, shrubs and groundcovers are carefully selected for low maintenance, their benefits to the gardener and to each other. There are a number of good books on the subject. I recommend Forest Gardening, Cultivating an Edible Landscape by Robert Hart.
"..wishes he had a girlfriend..."
Let me collect my jaw from the floor and enthusiastically volunteer!
I love this kind of stuff and fantasize about total self-sufficiency, but it's a sideshow since it was only the rise of agriculture that provided humans with enough food to spend time not foraging, time they spent making children to eat all the surplus food, building infrastructure, creating government, armies, churches and infinite mindless distractions from immediate exigencies. Neo-foraging could be fun for a few of us, but there's no way that our dwindling natural landscape can support even a tiny fraction of the 6.5 billion people on the Earth now. It could provide a lesson, however, in self-reliance and efficient-use. I've got no stats to back it up, but I'm guessing that the waste that we Westerners" produce could easily support the poorest in the world who are starving. The Market, is only efficient in maximizing wealth for a few, not in providing for the many, that point is always avoided in discussions of the rationality of private markets. Can you imagine even 10% of the people in your town (tiny or huge) looking for sustenance in the surrounding countryside?
Gary
I love this kind of stuff and fantasize about total self-sufficiency, but it's a sideshow since it was only the rise of agriculture that provided humans with enough food to spend time not foraging, time they spent making children to eat all the surplus food, building infrastructure, creating government, armies, churches and infinite mindless distractions from immediate exigencies. Neo-foraging could be fun for a few of us, but there's no way that our dwindling natural landscape can support even a tiny fraction of the 6.5 billion people on the Earth now. It could provide a lesson, however, in self-reliance and efficient-use. I've got no stats to back it up, but I'm guessing that the waste that we Westerners" produce could easily support the poorest in the world who are starving. The Market, is only efficient in maximizing wealth for a few, not in providing for the many, that point is always avoided in discussions of the rationality of private markets. Can you imagine even 10% of the people in your town (tiny or huge) looking for sustenance in the surrounding countryside?
Gary
I love this kind of stuff and fantasize about total self-sufficiency, but it's a sideshow since it was only the rise of agriculture that provided humans with enough food to spend time not foraging, time they spent making children to eat all the surplus food, building infrastructure, creating government, armies, churches and infinite mindless distractions from immediate exigencies. Neo-foraging could be fun for a few of us, but there's no way that our dwindling natural landscape can support even a tiny fraction of the 6.5 billion people on the Earth now. It could provide a lesson, however, in self-reliance and efficient-use. I've got no stats to back it up, but I'm guessing that the waste that we Westerners" produce could easily support the poorest in the world who are starving. The Market, is only efficient in maximizing wealth for a few, not in providing for the many, that point is always avoided in discussions of the rationality of private markets. Can you imagine even 10% of the people in your town (tiny or huge) looking for sustenance in the surrounding countryside?
Gary
If our population is unsustainable, then the majority will die.
The survivors will have the whole earth to work with.