Great Lakes Echo — For consumers looking for more natural food, the answer might be right in their backyards.
Plant foraging, or harvesting wild edibles like fruits, vegetables and nuts, is an ancient practice with a slew of benefits.
“There are literally tens of studies demonstrating that they’re more nutrient-dense than cultivated plants,” says Arthur Haines a Maine foraging expert and guide. “While we have a surplus of calories in the U.S. we do not have a surplus of micronutrients. It’s chronic, low-level malnourishment.”
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“There’s a long list of species where you basically can’t do any environmental damage” says St. Cloud State (Minnesota) University biology Professor Bill Cook. “You can only help the environment by foraging certain species. There are quite a lot of wild edible plants that are abundant weeds in farms and people’s gardens.”
That list includes garlic mustard, an invasive species imported from Europe. The plant spreads quickly, covering the forest floor and sucking up nutrients intended for native plant species. It’s ravaged its way through the Midwest and is difficult to stop.
Read more: http://greatlakesecho.org/2017/01/17/in-pursuit-of-plants-foraging-is-nutritious-organic-and-free/
