Urban foraging
I’ve been reading “The Neigbhorhood Forager: a guide for the wild food gourmet” lately. While I haven’t had the nerve to ask my neighbors to their fruit trees or extra blackberries, the movement is afoot. The idea is that there is a lot of food going to waste around cities. With our tough economic situation and increasing numbers of hungry individuals living in the city, it is important to take advantage of our resources.
Urban farms, apple harvesting. From a 2009 OPB article.
A recent article in EnzymePDX talks about the recent surge in urban foraging, notably the success of programs such as the Portland Fruit Tree Project, where you can register to donate the fruit from your trees to local food banks and low-income indivduals (and you don’t have to clean up all that fruit off your lawn!). There is also a great article from OPB about the foundation of some of these projects.
So maybe I should work up the courage to ask my neighbor for a few of those extra magnolia buds (more likely) or some of those strawberries (less likely).
Brandy –
I love the idea of urban foraging. Just last night I harvested some of the blackberries on the vines that were pushing their way through our fence with our back neighbor. I felt a bit guilty doing it, but we have put up with the prickly vines intruding into our garden and chicken coop, so I felt that I had some justification for harvesting the fruit. I have yet to harvest fruits or vegetables in common spaces, though I have been tempted to ask.