In Los Angeles, the School of Self-Reliance teaches, well, self-reliance - at least in the food department. Students (who include all types, including kids and adults, doomsday-ers and wilderness buffs) join instructor and school-head Christopher Nyerges on hikes through city parks and wilderness area in search of plants that make good snacks, meals, and medicines.
The LA Times went along for a foraging expedition in Hahamongna Watershed Park in Pasadena, and here's what they found: Lamsquarters, which are rich in vitamins A and C; amaranth, or pig weed, which is a hearty grain; chickweed, which is perfect for salads; and wild radishes, which taste as peppery as the tame ones.
Many of Nyerges' students are there to prepare for the worst: an earthquake or as Nyergest puts it, the "2012 baloney." But others just want to be able to sate their appetites free from a grocery store, to get to know their environment a bit better, or, yes, even save some money. Nyerges says he knows he'll never go hungry - and that's comforting.
In Portland, I went to a wild food potluck that featured foraged mushrooms, scavenged salad, and even scavenged meat (er, roadkill). My contribution was not so wild: figs from a neighbor's tree. The host was a man who lived simply and cheaply, and he went to the woods each week for fun, but also for food. For me, the wild food aspect was a novelty, but for him - and for many of the other people in attendance - it was a way of life.
I'm still learning how to fend for myself WITH the aid of the grocery store (see: my ambivalence about pots and pans), but now I'm inspired to see if there might be a salad lurking in my weeds.
Logan Sachon is a writer in Portland, Oregon.
The LA Times went along for a foraging expedition in Hahamongna Watershed Park in Pasadena, and here's what they found: Lamsquarters, which are rich in vitamins A and C; amaranth, or pig weed, which is a hearty grain; chickweed, which is perfect for salads; and wild radishes, which taste as peppery as the tame ones.
Many of Nyerges' students are there to prepare for the worst: an earthquake or as Nyergest puts it, the "2012 baloney." But others just want to be able to sate their appetites free from a grocery store, to get to know their environment a bit better, or, yes, even save some money. Nyerges says he knows he'll never go hungry - and that's comforting.
In Portland, I went to a wild food potluck that featured foraged mushrooms, scavenged salad, and even scavenged meat (er, roadkill). My contribution was not so wild: figs from a neighbor's tree. The host was a man who lived simply and cheaply, and he went to the woods each week for fun, but also for food. For me, the wild food aspect was a novelty, but for him - and for many of the other people in attendance - it was a way of life.
I'm still learning how to fend for myself WITH the aid of the grocery store (see: my ambivalence about pots and pans), but now I'm inspired to see if there might be a salad lurking in my weeds.
Logan Sachon is a writer in Portland, Oregon.
