Foraging and foraging ethics

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#1

I’m curious that of people who may forage, do you have intentional ethics around what you do?

I was recently broadsided with a random accusation (over facebook no less) that I had poor foraging ethics merely because I told someone that I harvested mushrooms and berries. In turn that person (Finisia Madrano of the Hoop project) accused me of “ecocide”. Now, that ridiculous accusation aside, I think that drama does bring up discussion about how foraging can done without damaging the system that is sustaining the foraging in the first place. Not that Finisia asked, but I am very deliberate in what I forage and how I do it. And I actually have similar concerns as other rewilders like Finisia that people see foraging as a selfish endeavor and commonly foraged items may disappear as foraging becomes more popular and demand for wild food grows.

My own cobbled together ethics are as follows:

  1. Cut mushrooms at the base to not disturb the mycelium. Leave some to spread spores. Spread spores by using open baskets when picking.
  2. When picking berries, leave some berries for birds, bears, porcupines, etc. (who poop out seeds to grow more berries).
  3. Try not to eat invasive seeds (like Himalayan blackberry) if composting humanure.
  4. When picking patches of something, like nettles, try to pick only 1/3 of the patch.
  5. When harvesting roots (like oregon grape or devil’s club) cut distant roots without killing the entire plant, let alone pulling the plant from the ground.
  6. When harvesting bulbs (like camas) replant the bulblets and seeds to grow more bulbs later.
  7. Harvest bark (for tanning or baskets) from clearcuts or windfall trees.

Do other people have different ethics they’d like to share? I intend this not as a creating a “ten commandments” of foraging, but merely sharing my own ethics I’ve found have worked for me over time – meaning I continued to see the items I foraged return every year I went back.

#2

Shit, you violated the sacred hoop of hoop logic and hoop walking that’s why you’re guilty of ecocide… because you didn’t hoop walk with the hoop mind.

An interesting question for Finisia, do harvesting ethics come into play when randomly plucking language and cultures for an authentically fake Plastic Indian vibe or not?

I find your foraging ethics to be pretty common sense. The biggest issue of all comes down to scale and the easiest way to throw that out of whack is foraging to sell. I think we’ve been down this road, but I’ll say it again, when you commodify these relationships/activities, then this becomes protocol, not ethics. It’s a whole different beast and one I have no interest in taking part in.

I’d say your list typifies my thoughts. I’m unquestionably reckless when harvesting non-natives and always hope to catch them before seeding. In the nitty gritty side, for things like blue cohosh we’ll replant it if there’s less than 6 “knots” in the roots. Ramps, generally go for the bigger ones and take less. I’m sure there are far more unconscious things that don’t come to mind.

One big thing, especially with mushrooms, is just the reminder that in ecosystems nothing “goes to waste”. If you aren’t eating it, it is still very much “in use”.

#3

Only additional item I can think of is to harvest tree roots on opposite sides each year, or at least, rotating that impact in some way. Several tree species I can reliably gather root cordage from, so that’s important for me. Replanting willow scions is also pretty neat.

#4

There’s no such thing as invasive in Nature.

#5

I’m pretty sure civilization itself is the case point in invasive in Nature.

#6

Per Arthur Haines suggestions (on the IPC group in facebook) I’m going to be more specific and change some of these:

  1. Cut mushrooms at the base to not disturb the mycelium. Leave some to spread spores. Spread spores by using open baskets when picking.
  2. When picking berries, leave some berries for birds, bears, porcupines, etc. (who poop out seeds to grow more berries).
  3. Try not to eat invasive seeds (like Himalayan blackberry) if composting humanure.
  4. EDIT: When picking patches of something make sure to understand how heavy harvesting can effect the patches’ continued growth. With the perennial nettles (Urtica diocia) for example a patch can be harvest over and over again, provided the patch is not picked 100% over and over (among other factors, such as tree growth, precipitation, etc.). If you find a nettle patch already picked over, even if see secondary growth, you will still want to move on and not pick them if you want to keep the patch going. With nettles specifically I try to leave a patch looking like nobody had picked it which usually amounts to picking 1/3 of the patch in various places within the patch.
    Botany books may prove helpful in understanding how foraging may effect patches of something. For Cascadia, for example, there is Plants of the Pacific Northwest by Pojar and MacKinnon.
  5. When harvesting roots (like oregon grape [Mahonia aquafolium] or devil’s club [Oplopanax horridum]) cut distant roots without killing the entire plant, let alone pulling the plant from the ground.
  6. When harvesting bulbs (like camas [Camassia quamash) replant the bulblets and seeds to grow more bulbs later.
  7. Harvest bark (for tanning or baskets) from clearcuts or windfall trees.
#7

I agree with your 7 commandments :wink: I’ve done the same in places I’ve lived so far, and have never foraged commercially. I’d consider it if I were in the right situation, but it’d have to be with a small scale seller - for example, a small natural foods co-op I used to work for in the UP of Michigan. I had access to a several acre patch of wild leeks that I could have harvested very carefully and provided them with a small weekly amount of fresh leeks for their brief season. The ‘biggest’ harvesting I’ve done is to provide a friend with bags of fresh wild edibles once or twice a week, until she felt familiar and comfortable enough with varieties to do her own local harvesting. I’ve also always been harvesting where no one else was… of course, that’s not possible for everyone, which is why harvesting ethically is so crucial. The more people grow up or become habituated to harvesting in a way that promotes healthier, more vibrant wild edible populations, the better.