Rooted in resilience: foraging in the modern era

Foraging is gaining popularity these days, but it’s long been a source of food, medicine, and cultural practice including in Shakespeare’s time. The Folger Institute’s Mixology series is looking at Foraged Mixology and invited Bodhi Vasilopoulos, the founder of Nature’s Love & Wisdom, to share some of the history of foraging and the pleasures today of gathering and eating plants like dandelion, elderberry, mushrooms, and greens, many of which can be found in parks, woodlands, and even backyards. 

Foraging then

Foraging is an ancient practice that has roots in cultures across the world. It is the custom of collecting herbs, bark, fruits, fungi, and other things growing in the environment to use for food, medicine, fuel, fiber, and other purposes. Nature is abundant with resources, yet we have forgotten our ancient ways of co-creating with the plants, fungi, and animals with whom we share this beautiful planet. When we can identify a plant or mushroom and understand its edible and medicinal properties, we can more easily feed and heal ourselves. In addition, foraging instills a deeper understanding of the importance of caring for local ecosystems.

Our sapiens ancestors were predominantly hunter-gatherers (aka foragers) until around 12,000 years ago when agriculture appeared more or less simultaneously in various places worldwide. We began to see larger human settlements forming, which required a year-round food supply for a stationary society and necessitated the rise of the cultivation of grains and other staple crops. Before that, most human communities were nomadic, following animal migration patterns and ecological cycles, foraging for food and resources as they migrated, but rarely collecting or disrupting so much that it would cause long-term damage to an ecosystem.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution and the Second Agricultural Revolution of the 1700s and 1800s, food was grown in small to medium-scale farm systems managed by people and animals. It was difficult to transport crops great distances without perishing. Therefore, food and medicine were mostly grown, harvested, and processed locally.

For example, there are annual festivities in the small city called Grevena in Northern Greece and the neighboring villages where my grandparents are from to celebrate the culinary and medicinal mushrooms that grow in the surrounding mountains. Another example is the indigenous cultures of the Great Lakes areas, such as the Ojibwe, who have harvested the wild rice that has grown abundantly there for many generations. In England, including in the West Midlands region where Shakespeare is from, there is a rich tradition of harvesting dandelion and elderberry, among many other foods. Around the world, there are cultures of people who see the natural ecosystems around them as wellsprings of nourishing and even gourmet culinary delights.

The reality of our modern system is that most of us acquire the vast majority of our calories from food sold in grocery store chains and grown by underpaid and underappreciated people on massive corporate farms located hundreds or thousands of miles away. We have no relationship to our food or the people who grow it. Most people I meet have never grown and harvested vegetables from a garden. Even fewer people have killed and processed an animal that they hunted or raised. The idea of eating a wild-growing plant or mushroom repulses and frightens many people. Ironically, our culture sees it as unnatural to eat foraged foods when, in reality, it is one of the most natural things we can do. Our disconnection and subjugation of nature stems from humanity’s deep collective wounds accumulated over many centuries of colonialism and imperialism. We are conditioned into this way of thinking from a young age, and it is difficult to uproot.

Foraging now

I bring all of this up because it is hard to talk about the contemporary context of foraging without touching on the ancient and pervasive roots of the practice and how we have moved away from it in modern society. Although it has always been practiced on the fringes by indigenous cultures, naturalists, foresters, wild foods lovers, and people in need, it has never been something mainstream within my lifetime. However, in the last few years, foraging has become more popular as people strive to cultivate deeper meaning and self-sufficiency by reconnecting to the land around them and rekindling ancestral ways of being.

In the DC area, there are many avid foragers and multiple teachers who offer classes. The Forage Maryland Facebook group has over 16,000 participants and is only one of the regional forums focused on the subject. I have taught thousands of people about foraging through my public events and collaborations with local farms, non-profits, and universities. People from all ages and walks of life attend my events and demonstrate an eagerness to learn about wild foods and our local ecologies. I focus on the plants and mushrooms that are seasonally relevant so participants get a sense of what they can harvest at different times of the year. It brings me great joy to witness someone get excited when they meet a plant for the first time or nibble on a delicious wild berry.

Rather than pulling or spraying all of the “weeds” growing in your garden or lawn, why not learn to identify them and research which ones are edible and medicinal? Many herbaceous plants are emerging this spring that are tastier and healthier than the greens you can purchase at any grocery store.

Dandelion, for example, is rich in antioxidants and vitamins and minerals such as folate, vitamin A, vitamin K, and calcium, among others. Its medicinal benefits include reducing cholesterol and inflammation, reducing cancer risk, detoxifying the liver, boosting the immune system, and many more. Every part of the plant is safe to consume. It prefers to grow in rich, well-draining soils, but it is equally adept at growing in compacted, depleted, and even toxic soils. The magic of dandelion is its resilience, adaptability, and gentleness. It manages to thrive no matter where it plants its roots, and it also creates the conditions for more life by drawing in nutrients and nourishing the topsoil. Dandelion’s gorgeous golden flowers open and close with the sunrise and sunset, which is why the plant symbolizes the Sun. The greens are tasty—and bitter—raw or steamed, and the radiant flowers add a delightful pop of color to any salad.

Elderberry is another excellent plant that can be easily foraged and grown in our region. It’s a shrub that often grows near streams and rivers but will thrive in many conditions. The flowers emerge mid-summer and ripen into berries by late July or August. We use many parts of this plant for medicine, including the bark, berries, leaves, and flowers. The flowers, which can be consumed raw, are known for their analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. They make a delectable herbal tea. The fruits are high in antioxidants and vitamin C. However, you must thoroughly cook them to break down the cyanogenic compounds they contain. The extract is commonly prepared as syrup with honey to treat colds and flu due to its potent antiviral and immune-boosting properties.

The elderberry species native to Europe are a significant symbol in many goddess traditions, namely the goddesses Venus and Holle.

It also held a sacred place in the mythology of the Celtic tribes of the British Isles.

Foraging in the Washington, DC, area

Some of my favorite local wild foods are chestnuts, acorns, mulberries, persimmons, chanterelle mushrooms, maitake mushrooms, chickweed, stinging nettles, and lamb’s quarters. I love making flour with chestnuts and acorns in the autumn and using those as substitutes for gluten-free flour in my pancake recipes. I have many sweet memories of climbing persimmon and mulberry trees to shake the sweet fruits from the upper boughs. The fruits are heavenly eaten raw, dehydrated, blended into smoothies, or made into jams, meads, wines, and preserves. Chanterelles are some of my favorite summertime mushrooms for their sweet, earthy flavor that goes well with everything. Maitake (aka hen of the woods) mushrooms are premier culinary mushrooms and one of the easiest to harvest in large quantities. I enjoy dehydrating extra mushrooms to eat throughout the year in soups, stir-fries, and mushroom jerkies. Chickweed, stinging nettle, and lamb’s quarters are some of my favorite wild greens. They are profoundly nutritious and excellent sauteed, steamed, tossed in a soup, or blended into pesto.

I encourage you to get curious and explore any of the numerous public parks and woodlands we can access in the greater Washington, DC, area. If you are planning to forage just make sure you are being safe and correctly identify anything before consuming it! Also, practicing the honorable harvest and being mindful of how much you take is essential. Prioritize collecting things that are plentiful and leave endangered and over-harvested species.

Learning to forage rewards us with enhanced health, happiness, resilience, and connection to the natural world. Try it and see for yourself!

About the author

Bodhi Vasilopoulos is the founder of Nature’s Love & Wisdom. He is a passionate forest gardener, herbalist, naturalist, and teacher. His teaching explores the intersection of foraging, agroforestry and food systems with ecology, activism, and cultural transformation. He offers immersive, educational workshops, retreats, and courses. In addition, he helps manage Forested, a regenerative food forest farm and education center working to expand forest agriculture in Washington, DC, and Maryland. He serves as a sitting Council Member on the Montgomery County Food Council. He holds a BS in environmental science and engineering, multiple technical certifications, and a decade of experience working with the land, applying his skills and knowledge towards service to life on Earth.