Disclaimer: A Warning to New Foragers

First of all it should be obvious why a person new to forging should use EXTREME caution when using wild plants. Second I do not advise ANY ONE to take the information on this blog and use wild plants.

Again if you are new to foraging,
DO NOT USE MY BLOG AS A FINAL GUIDE FOR ACTION!

Societies that regulatory rely on wild edible plants have knowledge systems to maintain proper gathering and processing techniques. It is never as simple as identifying an edible plant and eating it. An individual has to consider

• The lands legal status, is it private property? Is foraging explicitly banned at the location?
• The history of land, such as chemical exposure
• The history of the plant, such as chemical exposure and bio-accumulation
• Correctly identifying the species
• Correctly identifying the part(s) of the plant that are edible
• Knowledge of ripeness or ideal time for harvest
• Knowledge of processing or proper preparation
• Knowledge of storage
• Species rarity and abundance

These are only a few examples of thoughts that should be going through your head when considering a wild plant as a food source.

There are also implicit considerations when dealing with ecological knowledge such as

• The significance of ecological knowledge being shared. Many societies have rules on what knowledge is freely shared, with whom and when. These rules are meant to protect individuals from harm and to preserve knowledge systems.
• Or that the knowledge discussed on this blog is living knowledge and can not be maintained in written language only.

With all of that said remember to use as many sources as possible when researching wild edible plants and respect the knowledge of community elders.

Introduction

My name is Preston, I am student at the University of North Texas Studying Anthropology. I am currently working on a senior thesis on an ethnobiological survey of wild edible plants on the University of  North Texas campus.

The purpose of this research is to inventory wild edible plants on the UNT campus to provide a baseline awareness about local environmental knowledge that could become more visible on campus. This project is inherently geographic, because in the simplest terms little is known about what wild edible plants are found on the campus or where are they are located.  The project is also anthropological because there is a wealth of ethnobiological knowledge associated with useful plants. The mapping of environmental knowledge can make it accessible to people who have not been exposed to the biocultural landscape that exists on the UNT campus. The mapped knowledge can inspire a more direct experience of human-environment relationships, which can influence values and an ethical perspective among members of the campus community.

For decades the University of North Texas has projected an image of environmental concern and in recent decades, sustainability. With the creation of the Office of Sustainability and the Green Fund, scattered sustainable projects across campus have an avenue for funding and support. One such project is the creation of an on-campus community garden. The creation of a community garden on campus has accelerated a dialogue on management systems. Management is defined by Lertzman (2009:339) as “a set of actions taken to guide a system towards achieving desired goals and objectives.” Expanding the management concept, Lertzman (2009:339) defines Management Systems as “the sum of these actions, goals and objectives, the process through which they are legitimized by social norms, and the institutions and actors involved in carrying them out.” In Traditional Management Systems throughout history and the world, people have used wild edible plants as either a primary subsistence source or as “Green-Social-Security” that is used in conjunction with more intensely cultivated species (Cunningham 2001). Green social security refers to supplementary resources that can be used in conjunction with staple resources, especially should the staple decline in abundance or quality or fail altogether.

The UNT campus has a significant amount of wild edible plants in plain sight, such as wild cucumber and several species of yucca, which I have observed during walks around campus. From these direct encounters I was able to make a connection between the plants, place, and ethnobiological knowledge. What I experienced was a broadening of my own ecological understanding. I would like to formalize these observations not only to increase my own ecological understanding, but to increase direct encounters for others and to potentially broaden  ecological understanding on campus. Through identification and mapping of wild edible plants in the form of an ethnobiological inventory, the value of these plants can be communicated which may broaden and increase ecological understanding on campus.