Urban Foragers ~ Like the Dobe Ju/'Hoansi, Only in the City and Minus the Clicks

I recently read the article The Ultimate in Eating Local: My Adventures in Urban Foraging and all i can say is WOW

Rabins is another breed, and an older one -- he doesn't grow food, he finds it, and he does so mostly around the city of San Francisco and its neighboring towns and shores.

That's right, a hunter-gatherer of the 21st century eeking his living in the SF bay.

Rabins runs Forage SF, a group he started a year ago to provide foodies in the Bay area with a box of locally foraged foods.

Similar to the popular CSA (community-supported agriculture) model that allows people to buy a subscription to a farmer's regular bounty, Rabins' CSF provides members with a monthly box of foraged goodies that range from mushrooms to fruit to herbs to sea beans to fish.

This is where my jaw dropped. This man was not eeking out subsistence for himself, he was providing WEEKLY BOXES TO MANY PEOPLE!

So very very cool. I suppose it partially depends on the ecozone you live in and its ability to produce edibles, but this simply blew me away. I had no idea there was so much growing on our urban environments that could be taken freely to feed people.

The article is a cool read and the idea of 'urban foraging' may be my new job

Enjoy

[edit on 5-9-2009 by Animal]

Thanks for the link, it was a good read!

S+F