We scatter in different directions, combing the forest floor. One woman finds a patch of Lady’s Thumb, while another discovers abundant Stinging Nettle. A friend of mine teaches me about Purslane by shoving a fat stem into my mouth. It is rich and tangy, full of good meat. Meanwhile, a few men gather to chat around a tower of Lamb’s Quarter. We feel the tiny hairs on the plants as we harvest them, the cool of the leaves even in the glow of the sun.

Soon, we have gathered enough. We separate some to be cooked, and chop the rest for a salad. Linda, our teacher, shows us the wild rice, pickled burdock root, and wild onions she had prepared.When we sit down to eat, it feels like the food has already been blessed. We sing a song anyway, out of gratitude, and for the sheer joy of being with one another, learning in the middle of the woods.

What happens when I take the first bite is magnificent and unexpected.

A richness of flavor overwhelms me. It isn’t the carefully crafted taste of a master chef’s food. No, it is deeper than that. If a chef’s meal is a beautiful flower arrangement, this wild food is a vast wilderness. There are mountains of earthy, live tastes. A deep canyon comes with the bitterness, and a green forest blooms as new sweet and tangy flavors arise. I feel a river of nourishment flowing into my mouth, and can see the creatures of my body quenching their thirst. There is a space in the flavor, too, and that allows the taste of the wind to streak through me.

After several bites, I feel a heat in my belly. My body is in rapture—I even laugh unexpectedly—feeling I have arrived home. These plants are friends, known in my DNA, who had been forgotten by my mind. This wild food is deeply nourishing.

It wasn’t until later, at peace and fulfilled, that I began treat my brain to reading about the benefits of eating wild foods. Here are a few:

Nutrition (Wild Foods are Superfoods)

Many–dare I say most–wild foods are superfoods, meaning they have a high density of essential vitamins and minerals. For example, Lamb’s Quarter contains triple the calcium, and more vitamin C and A than Spinach, its cultivated relative. Compared to spinach, dandelions contain seven times the phytonutrients. Cultivated foods, however, have significantly lower nutritional value than wild foods. According to the New York Times,

“Studies published within the past 15 years show that much of our produce is relatively low in phytonutrients, which are the compounds with the potential to reduce the risk of four of our modern scourges: cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia. The loss of these beneficial nutrients did not begin 50 or 100 years ago, as many assume. Unwittingly, we have been stripping phytonutrients from our diet since we stopped foraging for wild plants some 10,000 years ago and became farmers…

Each [cultivated] fruit and vegetable in our stores has a unique history of nutrient loss, I’ve discovered, but there are two common themes. Throughout the ages, our farming ancestors have chosen the least bitter plants to grow in their gardens. It is now known that many of the most beneficial phytonutrients have a bitter, sour or astringent taste. Second, early farmers favored plants that were relatively low in fiber and high in sugar, starch and oil… The more palatable our fruits and vegetables became, however, the less advantageous they were for our health.”

Wild foods, however, naturally selected for hardiness and propagation, both of which require high nutrient density.

Relationship

 Creating a relationship with our foods helps us to receive all of their nourishment—physical and spiritual. Plants have an incredible wisdom to share, and honoring them as alive and life-giving is essential if we are to invite sacredness and health into our lives.

Building relationships with plants is easy and fun. Simply learning to identify a plant is the start of a relationship. Discovering the taste, the medicinal and nutritional benefits, builds it deeper. There comes a feeling of friendship with the plants we know. I often stop to say hello to those that I have known and who have nourished me in the past.

Sustainability

 Forty percent of the food produced in the US is wasted. This waste happens throughout the system, from cost-effective farming practices that produce waste, to high aesthetic standards of grocery stores, to restaurants and consumers. Even if we did eat all the food we grow, it still takes lots of water, fossil fuels, and packaging to cultivate and transport it. Wild foods, when sustainably harvested, take almost nothing from the environment in comparison.

Self-Sufficiency

 Whether you are wary of the instability of our nation’s food-systems, feel it would be out of integrity to participate in wasteful, profit-driven systems, or simply like the feeling of doing things yourself, harvesting wild foods is the perfect solution. In fact, finding wild food is pretty much the oldest act of self-sufficiency that human beings—or anything that is alive—has ever done. Come on, join in the spirit of tradition!           

Joy

 Okay, now you just have to try it. When I harvest and eat wild foods, I experience a profound sense of joy and connectedness. It’s not something I can explain, so I gave you the other reasons to coerce you into trying it. But once you do, you’ll realize what I mean. And then there’ll be no going back!

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Nicholas Tippins