Monday, October 28, 2024

National Wild Foods Day (10/28)


Let's go forage in the forest and make lunch
Wild Foods Day is celebrated in America every year on Oct. 28th. It is a holiday dedicated to wildflowers, fruits, and veggies.

Humans have foraged, gathered, and consumed plants food from the wild for thousands of years. However, these wild foods are now increasingly appearing on menus in gourmet and raw food restaurants due to them being nutritious, delicious, and trendy.

Moreover, wild foods are free of farming, tilling, preserving, and pesticides. Consuming them contributes to an environmentally conscious lifestyle.

History of Wild Foods Day
What kind of space cadets would eat wild foods?
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Wild foods are believed to have been in existence for over 40 million years. "Wild food" can generally be any edible plant that grows naturally without human intervention or any animal taken from its native environment for human use.

It is easy to observe that this Earth is brimming with wild foods. Some animals are considered native and wild in the United States. In addition, some fruits, herbs, and vegetables grow wild in many parts of the nation.

Dipa Ma, do they gather wild food in India?
Berry bushes of many sorts offer tasty fruits, and mushrooms (which are not plants but their own mycological kingdom) cover the woodland floor cleaning and revitalizing the land. According to experts, there are approximately 2,000 edible and medicinal mushroom types worldwide. 

Nuts, seeds, herbs, tree fruits, and cactus apples ("prickly pears") and pads are among the native foods that grow independently, even in concrete cities.


Ashkenazi Jews created 60s?
In many cases, wild foods are more nutritious than their farmed counterparts. This is most likely due to their natural survival mechanisms. For example, some plants grow thorns or emit an unpleasant odor to prevent predators, while others produce bitter-tasting chemical compounds.

These substances are known as phytochemicals, and research reveals that they can offer humans health benefits if consumed regularly. Think of the "chocolate tree" with its delicious fruit and giant seeds (Theobroma cacao) from which rich chocolate is made.

Pema Chodron, were you ever a hippie?
Wild Foods Day started being mentioned regularly in the print media around 1974. Euell "Grape Nuts" Gibbons, a wild food enthusiast who became a minor media celebrity, most likely inspired the popularity of this day. He is best known for his debut book, Stalking the Wild Asparagus.

Wild Foods Day is a celebration of all things wild and delicious that the planet has to offer. More: nationaltoday.com/wild-foods-day

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