Foraging for wild food ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from  BBC Learning English. I’m Beth.  

And I’m Neil. Nowadays we are so  

used to getting food whenever we want that we’ve  almost forgotten how we managed in the past. But  

for thousands of years before supermarkets, humans  found food through foraging – moving from place to  

place looking for wild food to eat. Since the Covid pandemic, foraging for  

wild food has become popular again. Why go  to the shops when you can walk into nearby  

countryside and parks to collect edible  plants, mushrooms, and fruit for free?  

Of course, you can’t eat everything you find  growing outside - some poisonous plants can  

make you very ill. But there’s something exciting  about setting off on a culinary treasure hunt  

to find new edible plants for dinner. In this programme, we’ll be hearing about  

a new foraging project taking place across  the UK, and, as usual, we'll be learning  

some useful new vocabulary as well. But first I have a question for you,  

Neil. 2019 was a good year for the group, Wild  Food UK, with the launch of their foraging pocket  

guide, a handbook aimed at helping foragers  find and identify safe wild food to eat.  

So according to the group’s website, what is  the most popular food foraged in the UK? Is it:  

a) seaweed? b) berries? or c) mushrooms? There’s so much coastline in Britain,  

I reckon it must be a) seaweed. OK. I'll reveal the answer later in the programme.  

Monica Wilde, known as Mo, is the  author of The Wilderness Cure,  

a book charting her year of eating only wild  food. Mo is one of a group of 26 experienced  

foragers taking part in the ‘Wild Biome Project’,  a three-month experiment into the health benefits  

of introducing wild food into your diet. Microbiome are tiny organisms including bacteria  

and fungi which live in the human digestive  system, help break down food, and strengthen  

immune defence. The idea is that natural  unprocessed foods found in the wild support our  

microbiome, leading to a range of health benefits  from weight loss to increased energy levels. The  

foragers’ microbiome is measured and monitored  before, during and after the experiment. Here’s  

Mo Wilde chatting with one of the foragers, Rob  Gould, for BBC Radio 4’s, The Food Programme.  

Even if you don't buy into the whole idea of  fully encompassing a wild diet - because for  

most people it's fairly much unattainable  - but for people just incorporating a small  

amount of wild food into their diet, you’re  increasing massively the amount of nutrients,  

the micronutrients and the  vitamins that you're getting,  

a lot of which aren't even available  regularly in your commonly bought foods.  

Sometimes people say, ‘Oh well, you know, if  everybody foraged, they wouldn't be enough’, but  

I've never noticed a shortage of nettles, and if  nettles didn't grow in this country, we'd probably  

be flying them in as a superfood because there's  so nutritious, and above all they’re free.  

With the high levels of nutrients and  vitamins found in wild plants like nettles,  

Rob has bought into the idea of foraging. If you  buy into an idea, you completely believe in it.  

Did you say stinging nettles - the wild plants  growing everywhere which have leaves covered  

in hairs that sting when you touch them? Yes, it turns out that nettles are packed  

full of nutrients and vitamins which  are great for human health. In fact,  

they’re even considered a superfood - food  that contains many vitamins and other nutrients  

known to be very good for human health. The Wild Biome Project hasn’t finished yet,  

but it already seems that the foragers are  feeling happier as well as healthier. They  

all report greater appreciation for  the smell and taste of their food,  

and say foraging has given them increased  self-worth, a natural treatment for depression  

and anxiety. Here’s one forager describing her  feelings to BBC Radio 4’s, The Food Programme.  

I found the first week I felt really quite flat,  quite limited carbs coming in from chestnut flour  

primarily. Feeling loads better now… feeling  loads better in the last few days, and I'm really  

enjoying the project… having a great time,  in fact. I don't really want it to stop.  

At the start of the experiment this  forager felt flat – low in energy,  

emotion or excitement, but after some weeks of  wild food, fresh air and appreciation of nature,  

she doesn’t want the project to stop. Well, I’m convinced! So, what’s first on my  

wild food shopping list? I think it’s time you  revealed the answer to your question, Beth.  

Right, I asked what was the most popular foraged  food in the UK, and you guessed it was seaweed,  

which was the wrong answer. Mushrooms  are the most popular foraged food. OK,  

let's recap the vocabulary we've learned  from this programme about foraging - looking  

for wild edible plants to eat. Microbiome are tiny bacteria and  

organisms in the human gut which help  digest food and strengthen immunity.  

If you buy into an idea, you  completely believe in it.  

Nettles are common nutritious  edible plants with leaves covered  

in hairs that sting when touched. A superfood describes a food containing  

many vitamins and other healthy nutrients. And finally, the adjective flat means lacking  

energy, emotion or excitement – and probably  means you should go outside and get foraging! Once  

again, our 6 minutes are up. Goodbye for now! Bye!