Foraging
John J. Audubon/'The Birds of America'
The 10 million prairie hens in Mark Twain's day have dwindled to 300 birds.
Mark Twain's fanciful 80-dish Thanksgiving dinner menu drew on wild bounty. Now, some foods on his list are extinct and others are known only by hunters, fishermen. Preserving or restoring wild foods begins with joy of marshes, mountains, lakes. We must learn from his premise: Losing a wild food means losing part of the landscape of our lives. And: Observing the prairie hen, by John J. Audubon, in 'The Birds of America' (click 'See also').
By Andrew Beahrs
The New York Times 2008-11-26 (entry)
See also
Annual forest loss cost of $2 trillion to $5 trillion dwarfs current economy problems, analyst says. As forests decline, nature stops providing free services- clean water and food for foraging, plus absorption of carbon dioxide. Heartening signs: developing trade in natural ecosystems (similar to carbon trade); attention of government, business officials.
By Richard Black
BBC 2008-10-10 (entry)
With second year of drought already causing $260 million in crop damage and pushing farm layoffs, restrictions on water use, and hard times for tractor dealerships and roadside diners, some California farmers turn to old-fashioned dowsers. Practitioners walk the land, carrying forked willow branches or other objects that tug downward inexplicably at the presence of water.
By Jesse McKinley
The New York Times 2008-10-09 (entry)
As food prices increase, urban and rural citizens engage by growing their own food as well as noticing the neglected harvests around them. Gleaning an overabundance of zucchini, or pears to stock food pantries, experts say, ties the community together.' And: In Seattle, Community Fruit Tree Harvest sends volunteers to harvest, then deliver produce to local food banks and meal programs.
By Patricia Leigh Brown
The New York Times 2008-09-14 (entry)
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With 100 grams going for $850, the scent of a fungus draws buyers to Alba. But other Italian towns, including the medieval village of Gubbio, want their share of the truffle market and struggle to distinguish themselves, whether by truffle DNA, a map or by naming a variety.
By Gabriel Kahn
Wall Street Journal 2007-11-09 (entry)
Inspired by environmental justice and groups that feed the homeless with surplus food, freegans in New York eschew capitalism and scavenge for groceries in the 50 million pounds of food garbage discarded annually; they favor D'Agostino's, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.
By Erika Hayasaki
Los Angeles Times 2007-09-11 (entry)
Despite day jobs, couple hunt, fish and gather about a third of the food they eat, using a nearly comprehensive mental map of Seattle foraging spots to relish what they call unbelievably bountiful land.
By Huan Hsu
Seattle Weekly 2007-08-08 (entry)
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Bane and benefit both, blackberries cover the Oregon landscape with a thorny thicket but are high in antioxidants, show promise in tumor reduction, are a high cash crop, a primary food source for honeybees and other pollinators - and they're tasty as well.
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard (OR) 2007-08-11 (entry)
