(6 Nov 2015) LEAD IN:
Nature lovers in Canada can now combine trekking with eating high-end cuisine.
An adventurous group in British Columbia is taking people into the outdoors and teaching them to forage for wild foods, before heading back to a restaurant to cook them up.
STORY-LINE:
This group of trekkers is scouring the forest for one thing – food.
They’re exploring a lush area bordering Silver Lake Provincial Park near Hope, British Columbia, in Canada.
It’s an ideal place for foraging because the river valley is clean and there is very little development.
The group is on a tour led by Vancouver-based Forager Foundation.
The foundation’s goal is to educate people about the history and role of a number of edible plant species.
“I’d like to appreciate nature a little bit more and so I came out here today because I want to learn the names of the plants and to learn how I could harvest,” says forager Jessica Kyle.
“I think that when you know the names of the plants and you know how to use them, then it just builds respect for your surroundings. If you know what to call them and if you know how they could be important to your life or others then it makes you tread a little more lightly in the outdoors,” Kyle explains.
The Forager Foundation is run by President Bryce Watts and Programme Director Jesse Evjenth, who holds a degree in ethnobotany from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Evjenth says that, after studying a number of cultures and the plants people use, he was inspired to help educate people about the plants that are native to the area.
He believes many people in the West have become disconnected from their roots, and he hopes the Forager Foundation can help them build a stronger relationship with the local land.
The tours take place in a number of wilderness areas in and around Vancouver, including the city’s beloved Stanley Park, West Vancouver’s Lighthouse Park, and Campbell Valley Park in nearby Langley, B.C.
Many of these parks are protected and foraging isn’t always permitted, so visitors on tours in these areas learn about plants that have been traditionally used by First Nations groups and others to create medicine and make food.
The tours are two to four hours long and cost 23 to 57 US dollars, depending on the format.
The group runs three tours per week and have welcomed roughly 120 guests throughout the summer.
The Forager Foundation is a registered non-profit, which means proceeds are reinvested in other projects such as a cultural gardens project that aims to help create educational spaces for botanical knowledge in urban settings.
Watts says his love of hiking first brought him into the outdoors where he then developed an appreciation for foraging.
Now he says he relishes sharing his passion with others.
“Bringing people into the forest and touching and tasting the plants makes a really strong connection to what you learn on the tour, so when you go into the forest next time, you’re recalling those memories. And I think that whether it’s like a family member or an elder or a teacher bringing you into the forest to teach you things, I think the part that you remember the most is the memory being there doing it. And so if we can facilitate that, it’s some of the best work that we could possibly do.”
On today’s tour, the adventurers will learn to identify 15 to 25 plants. Many of the plants can be used for cooking.
For example, the foundation says Dull Oregon Grape leaves can be made into a delicious jelly.
Thimbleberry shoots were an important vegetable for First Nations people who collected them in early spring.
They can be eaten fresh or cooked the same way you would asparagus.
But the tours aren’t just about foraging – the next step is eating.
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