Urban Foragers Prosper in Portland
August 16th, 2010 | Published in | 4 Comments
Photos by Lisa Bauso
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laUrban foraging, the art of gathering free food from the median strips and overgrown backyards of the urban fabric, is growing across the nation, and Portland is a key hot spot.
“It’s not so amazing,” said John Kallas of Portland’s Wild Food Adventures, which provides expertise and resources, including tours and workshops, on wild urban edibles. “There are only five big wild food teachers in this country, and I’m one of them. Thousands of students have gone through my workshops – that in itself has a cascading effect.”
Kallas says he sees two trends keeping his classes full and interest in foraging high.
“The first is that feeling of big revolution post-Obama, there was a sort of celebratory effect in the environmental community, which is causing a resurgence in primitivism,” he said. “The other thing is simply the economy. During hard times people start thinking of food security.”
Pinpointing the exact number of foragers in Portland is not easy. However, Portland Fruit Tree Project, an organization started five years ago by Kathy Kolker, does have some intriguing data.
Last year, Portland Fruit Tree Project organized 15 inner city harvest “parties” – interested volunteers gathering in groups of around a dozen to help neighbors glean ripe fruit from trees in their yards. The total crop from those 15 parties in 2009 was 15,000 pounds of produce. The bulk of it was donated to local food banks, and gleaners also took home a share. This year, 30 parties are planned, and by the end of the summer season, Portland Fruit Tree Project expects about 25,000 pounds of fruit will be harvested.
That represents an enormous amount of free food that might otherwise fall to the ground only to be picked over by bugs, bees, and other roaming wildlife.
Yet Portland Fruit Tree Project’s harvests have a triple bounty, demonstrated during a recent inner Southeast gathering party. They are a source of fresh produce to nourish local communities and bring neighbors together with a common task that has a sweet yield. In addition, they are a boon for tree owners like Molly Carnahan, who is responsible for the care of a decades-old, prolific King fig tree that dominates the front half of her backyard.
“I am just so happy you are helping,” she told the dozen volunteers from Portland Fruit Tree Project before they started a night’s gleaning in mid-August. “It’s just too much for me to handle on my own.” Later, as volunteers climbed ladders to gently twist delicate figs from branches (and eat a few sticky, perfectly ripe figs in the process), Carnahan waxed enthusiastic on the role of the organization in partnering tree owners with ready hands. “I’ve learned so much about my trees from them, and that’s so much easier than reading a book.”
Portland Fruit Tree Project represents an organized response to urban dwellers’ desire to connect to nature and eat free food, and it is replicated in projects in other cities, most notably Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
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Back story for beginning foragers!
There’s nothing more local than foraging – everyone interviewed for this article seems in agreement that you can start to forage right in your own backyard by identifying and getting more information on what might be edible. “You start close to your own home and then you just look around,” said Nikki Monacelli. “And then I don’t pick until I’ve asked. I go to the door, I leave a note, and most of the time people call me back, because most of the time, they can’t or don’t want to do it themselves.” Sharing with property owners and others is part of the urban foraging ethic, Monacelli says, but she adds: “Take care of your sources. Some of the trees I forage, others do, too. But some … I’ll never tell where my favorites are.”
Great story by April. So glad Enzyme covered this topic.
I write an urban foraging blog at FirstWays.com, where I offer free info and photos of my adventures with local wild plants. I also teach Urban Foraging 101 workshops on Sunday afternoons with botanist Emily Porter. More info is at FirstWays.com/Classes
A couple of clarifications are necessary RE the article above.
First, I never said in our interview or anywhere else that I identify as a “gleaner.” Actually, that term connotes freeganism — muching on conventional food growing in people’s gardens and or on fruit trees and such. Freeganism is cool, but I’m not a gleaner, and my two weeks living off wild food in Portland did not include anything from any gardens. I harvested the wild plant foods most people don’t recognize as foods — the weeds and escaped ornamentals and such.
Second, I never said a thing about urban waste and it is a misrepresentation to suggest that I identify with that POV. Actually, I don’t consider uneaten weeds to be waste. I consider weeds to be living creatures who exist for their own sake, as well as as food and shelter for nonhuman animals. I forage not because wild plants are a “resource” but because I’m into recognizing nature around us and living in balance with it. Eating weeds is just one of many ways I connect with plants.
Otherwise, great story.
Rebecca Lerner
FirstWays.com
The photos in this article are incredible. The light shining through the trees really shows the beauty of urban farming and the close of the fruit is mouth watering.
The photos in this article are incredible. The light shining through the trees shows the beauty of urban farming and the close up of the fruit is mouth watering.