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Foraging for Survival: Edible Wild Plants of North America
Whether you’re a hiker taking a walk through your local wilderness, or a chef looking for new ingredients to incorporate in your dishes, Foraging for Survival is the book for you.
As consumerism and a meat-heavy, processed diet become the norm and the world’s population continues to grow at an exponential rate, more and more people are looking toward a more sustainable path for food. Authors Douglas Boudreau and Mykel Hawke believe that the future of food lies in the wild foods of times spanning back to before the mass-agriculture system of today.
People have become distanced from the very systems that provide their food, and younger generations are increasingly unable to identify even the trees in their backyards. In response, Boudreau and Hawke have provided a compendium of wild edible plants in North America. Foraging for Survival is a comprehensive breakdown of different plant species from bearded lichen to taro, and from all over the United States. There are also tips for growing local native plants in the backyard to facilitate learning and enhance table fare at home. Other information you’ll find
Start eating wild today with Foraging for Survival !
As consumerism and a meat-heavy, processed diet become the norm and the world’s population continues to grow at an exponential rate, more and more people are looking toward a more sustainable path for food. Authors Douglas Boudreau and Mykel Hawke believe that the future of food lies in the wild foods of times spanning back to before the mass-agriculture system of today.
People have become distanced from the very systems that provide their food, and younger generations are increasingly unable to identify even the trees in their backyards. In response, Boudreau and Hawke have provided a compendium of wild edible plants in North America. Foraging for Survival is a comprehensive breakdown of different plant species from bearded lichen to taro, and from all over the United States. There are also tips for growing local native plants in the backyard to facilitate learning and enhance table fare at home. Other information you’ll find
Start eating wild today with Foraging for Survival !
208 pages, Paperback
Published October 13, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2020
Merely getting to chapter 4 (of 14) was utterly painful.
- It’s often unclear who is the narrator/author speaking to us.
- There is a LOT of repetition... especially with regards to the dangers involved in foraging. It seemed wise to mention at the first and second disclaimer, and then spruced around chapter 1 “Special Rules”, but thereafter... it became a tad frustrating. If you think it’s our responsibility to be cautious with the information you’re (eventually?) going to share with us, there’s a point when you really need to let go and trust the reader. Otherwise, why bother pursuing the endeavour of educating at all...
- In one page alone, from chapter 3, I could find judgment (i.e. “It is ridiculous that so many Americans”) and generalizations, which sometimes included outright self-contradictions (earlier in the book speaking of foraging berries: “This very simple rhyme can help: Black through blue are food for you...”; and then barely 5 pages later: “some survival books attempt to instruct [...] with generalizations. They might say that [...] blue and black berries are usually safe”.......)... as well as what almost appears as emotional manipulation (“most people aren’t very interested because they just assume that their food will always be there for them [...] if you take this subject seriously, you can [...]” —> I do! But clearly I need to go elsewhere if I ever want to learn to be “self-sufficient” in the wild.).
- Some of their suggestions are already questionable and potentially dangerous (i.e. chapter 2: dousing yourself with bleach to cure poison ivy when you get home from foraging..... even when you don’t know if you ran into any poison ivy - just in case!!! Wowserz. O.o .....)
I skimmed the rest of the book after that.
Further observations:
- the chapter titles are uninspired to say the least. Chapter 6 (soooooo ‘half-way’ into the book) is “Foraging 101”. Huh? Shouldn’t we be further into the main subject by now?
- most of the chapters are VERY short. Ex: Chapter 7 is about 500 words. Chapter 8 is too... Hardly enough to warrant calling each of them more than an essay; often appears subjective and reflective; and naturally with so little said, it does not appear that the rest of the book is particularly informative.
- on the other hand, other chapters are WAY too long (and chaotic). Notably chapter 11, which spans on almost 200 pages... 200! (NB. 200 in the ebook which had 278 pages on my settings. It may be more like 150 pages in the paper book.) Yes the plants names are in alphabetical order but like seriously?!? Sub-categorizing could have helped here... also, considering that most plants are not edible and that this represents the biggest danger in foraging, how can the authors only have about 10 pages to write about them? In contrast from chapter 11, the chapters about poisonous plants and on medicinal ones are desperately starving for attention...
- the plant photos are too few in my opinion when the authors finally mention them more specifically, and they look like they were taken from their backyard (so-to-speak). Aesthetics does not seem to have been a preoccupation in the making of this book: most of the pictures are similarly green blobs on brown blobs. Some of them aren’t even in focus (yay blurred coral bean pods and eastern redbuds!)!!!
Anyways... glad to see there’s a bibliography at least. Maybe there’s something in *that* list that I’ll find worth my while...
- It’s often unclear who is the narrator/author speaking to us.
- There is a LOT of repetition... especially with regards to the dangers involved in foraging. It seemed wise to mention at the first and second disclaimer, and then spruced around chapter 1 “Special Rules”, but thereafter... it became a tad frustrating. If you think it’s our responsibility to be cautious with the information you’re (eventually?) going to share with us, there’s a point when you really need to let go and trust the reader. Otherwise, why bother pursuing the endeavour of educating at all...
- In one page alone, from chapter 3, I could find judgment (i.e. “It is ridiculous that so many Americans”) and generalizations, which sometimes included outright self-contradictions (earlier in the book speaking of foraging berries: “This very simple rhyme can help: Black through blue are food for you...”; and then barely 5 pages later: “some survival books attempt to instruct [...] with generalizations. They might say that [...] blue and black berries are usually safe”.......)... as well as what almost appears as emotional manipulation (“most people aren’t very interested because they just assume that their food will always be there for them [...] if you take this subject seriously, you can [...]” —> I do! But clearly I need to go elsewhere if I ever want to learn to be “self-sufficient” in the wild.).
- Some of their suggestions are already questionable and potentially dangerous (i.e. chapter 2: dousing yourself with bleach to cure poison ivy when you get home from foraging..... even when you don’t know if you ran into any poison ivy - just in case!!! Wowserz. O.o .....)
I skimmed the rest of the book after that.
Further observations:
- the chapter titles are uninspired to say the least. Chapter 6 (soooooo ‘half-way’ into the book) is “Foraging 101”. Huh? Shouldn’t we be further into the main subject by now?
- most of the chapters are VERY short. Ex: Chapter 7 is about 500 words. Chapter 8 is too... Hardly enough to warrant calling each of them more than an essay; often appears subjective and reflective; and naturally with so little said, it does not appear that the rest of the book is particularly informative.
- on the other hand, other chapters are WAY too long (and chaotic). Notably chapter 11, which spans on almost 200 pages... 200! (NB. 200 in the ebook which had 278 pages on my settings. It may be more like 150 pages in the paper book.) Yes the plants names are in alphabetical order but like seriously?!? Sub-categorizing could have helped here... also, considering that most plants are not edible and that this represents the biggest danger in foraging, how can the authors only have about 10 pages to write about them? In contrast from chapter 11, the chapters about poisonous plants and on medicinal ones are desperately starving for attention...
- the plant photos are too few in my opinion when the authors finally mention them more specifically, and they look like they were taken from their backyard (so-to-speak). Aesthetics does not seem to have been a preoccupation in the making of this book: most of the pictures are similarly green blobs on brown blobs. Some of them aren’t even in focus (yay blurred coral bean pods and eastern redbuds!)!!!
Anyways... glad to see there’s a bibliography at least. Maybe there’s something in *that* list that I’ll find worth my while...
July 16, 2023
Appears almost entirely unedited. Completely unorganized, with occasional unsuccessful attempts to nonsensically group things into topics; some useful information but the bulk of the book is made up of his personal (often political/unfounded and uncomfortable) thoughts and theories rather than practical tips, instructions or safety advice. You have to work quite hard to parse the useful botanical and field information from the repetitive yet overly vague safety nagging, personal grandstanding, and flagrant syntax errors. There are obvious missing periods, grammatical errors, and one entry that flat-out contains no useful description or foraging information whatsoever, only a name and a vague description of distribution. Unfinished?
Frankly embarrassing that two grown adults with careers put their name on this; not even the bibliography is structured correctly, it appears to be more of a ‘List of Books I Read’. This is a tenth grade C student’s interest essay he wrote the night before it was due on the toilet. The kindest thing I can say about it was that it was published perhaps much too soon in the revising process.
Do not attempt to forage based on the advice of this book. Do not buy it either.
Frankly embarrassing that two grown adults with careers put their name on this; not even the bibliography is structured correctly, it appears to be more of a ‘List of Books I Read’. This is a tenth grade C student’s interest essay he wrote the night before it was due on the toilet. The kindest thing I can say about it was that it was published perhaps much too soon in the revising process.
Do not attempt to forage based on the advice of this book. Do not buy it either.
December 28, 2024
I enjoyed this foraging book - written less like a reference book and more like a walk through the forest while your guide points our various plants, their uses, how to prepare them as well as some personal experience and observations. Written by someone who lives mostly in Florida many of the plants would not be present where I live but the majority are. I really appreciated the personal experience and practical tips on cooking and harvesting the food that you don't often see in foraging books.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews