The Inland Northwest has a bountiful selection of wild edible plants and herbs – from berries to leafy greens, and everything in between – that can add nutrition and variety to your plate this summer. While the term "foraging" may sound quaint, the skill of seeking out and collecting wild plants is very much alive today. And while it can take training and patience to learn to forage wild plants, those efforts may be rewarded with a slew of health benefits.
ATTRIBUTES
Eating local, wild foods can help your health, wallet and the environment. Even if you're not ready to try this yourself, there are plenty of professional foragers in our area who sell their bounties at local markets, so you can reap many of the benefits without getting your hands dirty. In the Inland Northwest, we're very familiar with staple wild foods like morel mushrooms and huckleberries. However, if you look a bit further, you'll find that local edible plants are common and may even be in your yard. From dandelion greens to wild daisies, and even a flowering plant known as the "oyster plant," there are plenty of local wild foods waiting to be found.
SUPERPOWERS
Many of these wild foods are packed with phytochemicals, antioxidants and other nutrients. Since these plants thrive in our Northwest soil, they're naturally organic and more biodiverse than most commercially grown produce. Additionally, you can access them with little-to-no transportation, which accounts for a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the food industry. Finally, if you do decide to study up and get foraging yourself, you can save money by gathering your own produce instead of purchasing it and get some exercise by getting outdoors.
WEAKNESSES
Before you ingest anything you've harvested in the wild, you'll need to confirm a positive identification. Unfortunately for foraging newbies, some edible plants have some look-a-likes that can be toxic. Boost your knowledge of local wild food by studying guidebooks for your area, taking a class, or going foraging with an expert. If you're not 110 percent sure of an identification, you should keep the plant off your plate. Additionally, make sure you know how to sustainably harvest wild plants so that you don't reduce the population of the plant you want to enjoy, or mistakenly harm the local ecosystem. For newbies, consider trying some of the many wild foods and medicinal plants offered by local experts at farmers' markets.
HOW TO USE THEM
Have you ever tried a salad made with wilted dandelion greens, while sipping dandelion flower iced tea? Made a soup with wild daisy? Enjoyed morels sauteed with garlic and drizzled in butter? As much variety asyou'll find in wild edible foods, there is an equal variety in ways to prepare them. New-to-you foraged foods are not only a great way to add some variety in your regular diet, but a reason to get creative in the kitchen.
Stacey Aggarwal received a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Washington. She writes about biology, health and nutrition while running a lavender farm in North Idaho.
