The Best Things in Life Are Free

So what exactly are the healthiest foods to eat? It is indeed a question on the mind of every health-conscious person out there. Most people would venture a guess pointing to pricey organic produce sold at the local health food store or the latest “superfood” product. No doubt, these are good foods to consume, though the most ideal foods for us do not come from a package or store shelf. They’re local, they’re abundant, and they’re free for the taking. I’m talking about WILD FOODS!

Food is all around us. It’s in your backyard, along the sides of city streets, in the forests and meadows, by the lake or stream, in a park, in the city, in the country, literally everywhere. Problem is, we’ve lost touch with our natural surroundings. With the advent of global importing and exporting, the modern supermarket, and agriculture, we’ve dismissed ourselves from the integral daily practice of our ancestors: hunting and gathering food. These historically essential survival skills have become unnecessary today as our modern-day societies, in the never ending pursuit of technological innovation, efficiency and “advancement”, push cheap, mass-produced, convenience food that is severely deficient in nutrition. Most of us have no clue where our food even comes from anymore. How crazy is that? Did you know that tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers have all been bred from a tiny, poisonous wild berry called the nightshade? Did you know that the carton of conventional milk you buy from the grocery store contains a mixture of hundreds of different cows’ milk, from all over the country? This is crucial information! We seriously need to reconnect with our food, and eating wild is the perfect prescription.

Wild food is our original food. It is the stuff we’ve been eating for thousands of years. A traditional aboriginal diet in southern Ontario consisted of such things as berries, herbs, roots, nuts, seeds, fungi, fish, insects, and wild game. This is indeed a very appropriate diet for us to follow today, though the typical modern diet is a far cry from such. Wild mammals, the base of the diet and the primary source of calories, provide essential fat soluble vitamins including vitamins A and D, along with iron, zinc, calcium, phosphorous, and vitamin B12. Saturated fat and cholesterol, Omega 3 fatty acids, and complete protein are abundant. In comparison to domesticated, factory-farmed animals, wild game is leaner, more densely mineralized, and free of growth hormones and antibiotics. Fish, along with the aforementioned nutrients present in game meat, provide essential long-chain omega 3 fats DHA and EPA.

Herbs such as dandelion, stinging nettle, wild lettuce, and watercress are abundant in our environment, and are far more nutritious and medicinal than any kind of salad green sold at the supermarket. Compared to say, spinach or kale, stinging nettle and dandelion greens have far more calcium, iron, protein, and trace minerals.

Berries are abundant in the summer months, including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and serviceberries. And they will grow just about anywhere. A good place to look is at a park, along a path, or in your neighbour’s yard. Wild berries are an excellent fruit to consume, as they are low in sugar and contain high levels of vitamins and antioxidant compounds.

So where does one start? Though the task of gathering and foraging for your own food may seem daunting, like any other new endeavour, start small! Take a walk in a forest or around your neighbourhood and observe the plants and trees that inhabit the land. Pick up a wild edible food guide or go online and search for edible wild plants of your geographic location. Experiment with different plants and find what you enjoy. If you are seeking meat, make friends with honourable hunters, or better yet, learn the way of the hunt yourself! The more wild food we can include in our daily diets, the healthier we will be.

Eat local, eat wild! Because the best things in life are indeed free.