F.A.Q

Foraging is the act of gathering wild food for free. Foraging for wild food is a great way to experience the natural world and connect with something ancient and primal within ourselves. And in many ways, it can be a more healthy alternative to the foods we find at the grocery store. Not only is wild food much richer in essential vitamins and minerals, but foraging also provides much needed exercise. It's a combination of hiking and gardening.

Midwest Foragers Gathering this year will be September 20-22.  Tickets are on sale now!

Before eating any wild plant, make 100% sure you can identify it.

• Find a mentor or plant walk in your area.
• Get a good book.
• Use all of your senses.
• Keep a foraging journal.
• Don't over harvest.
• Only forage plants that appear to be healthy.
• Get permission to forage.

Anyone!  Harvesting wild food is one of the oldest and most basic activities of humankind, but today we live in a world where these skills are almost lost. We recognize that getting out into the wild can be a privilege but you don't have to leave your yard to find plants that can help support a healthy and connected life.

The roots of foraging come from knowledge shared by indigenous people in this country and continues to be practiced today.  Additionally, during chattel slavery foraging provided Black people with a means of survival.  However, during colonization and post Civil War many laws were put in place to limit the freedom of Black and Indigenous people making foraging practices illegal and even removing Indigenous people from their land cutting those ties. As a result, Black and Indigenous people have been forcefully separated from foraging practices to further colonization in this land and this continues to impact those populations today.  We believe it's important to build a communal practice where everyone can feel safe and seen out in nature.