On October 12, 2018, I had the opportunity to go to a seminar held by Mikelis Grivins of the Baltic Studies Centre. He spoke of the importance of wild foraging in his home country of Latvia and elsewhere in Europe as well as the social dynamics that motivate it and the dynamics it in turn generates.

Coming from a large city, I was unfamiliar with the concept of wild foraging beyond its definition. Foraging is the collecting and eating of wild plants, fruit and fungi. They are sometimes also transformed into secondary products such as tea, jams and beer, which are consumed by the forager, or shared with others, generating trades within and between the foraging community and the general population.

Despite being common in continental Europe after WWII, it has since died down in Western Europe, where few people now forage. However, in Eastern Europe, wild foraging is still a very common practice. 90% of the Latvian population forages, showing how important it is in the culture, and revealing that the practice isn’t reserved only to inhabitants of rural areas, but also to those of more urbanised areas. This is because wild foraging isn’t considered solely as a way to obtain food, but has entered the culture as a form of meditation, and is enjoyed as a family activity.

The popularity of wild foraging in Eastern Europe and the Baltics is probably a consequence of the multiple past and ongoing crises in the past century, from independence in 1918, to Soviet occupation after WWII and more recent economic crises. This situation has encouraged the population to turn regularly towards nature to provide necessary food and therefore rely more heavily on foraging. Since then, the practice has become more of a hobby than a necessity. Products of wild foraging also enter the mainstream economy, where they are sometimes used as marketing, showing their importance to the people.

I have never foraged, but I now see it as an attractive activity, especially for the meditative benefits mentioned by the seminarist. It is an effective way of maintaining a close link with nature and a relationship which ultimately leads to heightened respect and awareness towards our natural surroundings. Furthermore, wild foraging as an economically productive activity could drive conservation and management products and generate enthusiasm. However, I think it would be difficult to establish foraging in regions where it is not yet popular and in urbanised areas, where a potential stigma might exist, or where it would be impractical.

I don’t think I would consider wild foraging as a potential career option, not least because I have trouble imaging how a career in that field would even present itself. But I am now aware of it, and might engage in it as a hobby.