Sustainable Foraging Guidelines

Rules are for the obedience of fools

& the guidance of wise men*

I like to think that my readers are wise people, so I thought I’d write some ‘Guidance’ on foraging sustainably instead of making ‘Rules’. I’m not a rules sort of person. I’ve also phrased them positively as Dos rather than as Don’ts because I am that sort of person.

I welcome my readers' comments or views on these guidelines. I'm happy to improve them if we can, as long they stay as positively phrased guidelines.

Sustainable Foraging Guidelines

There are three areas in which you need to act sustainably when foraging:

• Your environment
• Your community
• Yourself

These mirror the Permaculture Ethics of Earthcare, Peoplecare and Fair Shares. To find out more about these things see here and have a look at the Permaculture Magazine website.

Guidelines for your Environment

• Leave produce for animals to feed on, for the plant to propagate itself and for it to nourish its patch. Leave some produce on each plant you pick from.
• Only take what you’ll be able to use.
• If you can, sow seeds or scatter the fruit pips that you have left over from processing so that you help plants propagate.
• Only take plants that are not on protected or endangered lists.
• Learn how to harvest plants without damaging them.

Guidelines for your Community

• Leave some produce for others to enjoy, to look at and to collect.
• Be generous with your advice & assistance to others so you encourage them to look after your shared environment.

Guidelines for Yourself

• Only take what you can comfortably process or store for later processing.
• Use appropriate precautions when collecting. Gloves can be useful for protecting against stings and thorns. A brimmed hat can help you avoid poking yourself in the eyes with branches.
• Positively identify that what you are picking is safe: if in doubt, leave it out.
• Stay within the law: have permission or a legal right for where you are and what you want to pick.
• Be aware of pollution issues as they might affect the things you want to pick.

With thanks to MissyMoonbeams on Twitter for prompting me to do this.

*Attributed to Douglas Bader, UK Second World War Pilot