A New Light for Modern Day Hunters and Gatherers

I heard a story on NPR one recent morning about foraging. It jolted me out of my slumber once I heard the words “edible plants in Washington D.C.” Apparently, this guy, Sam Thayer, is the modern day – urban, no less – hunter-and-gatherer. Though he hails from Portland, Oregon, he can even find a meal, quite literally, on the streets of D.C. As I set out for my morning run, passing all of the (finally!) Spring foliage, I thought about it: “So, how many of these plants are actually edible?” More importantly, what if they all were edible?

As Spring approaches, I have wondered about the green we see around the city. Do we pass by a tree everyday that would actually make a great addition to my sandwich for lunch? Or is it just a pretty tree? But, then I began to wonder, if they are not edible, why couldn’t they be? The urban environment is not known for their food production, but rather their food imports. Urban gardens are beginning to pop up around the city, neighborhood gardens, school gardens, and even rooftop gardens are a more common occurrence. However, I began to think, what kind of opportunity do we find to discover some kind of “organically” grown food in this city? DC is a rather green city compared to others, so what if it was actually an edible city, too?

Apparently, I was somewhat correct in my musings. There is organically grown produce in the District. We are just not aware of it and perhaps it’s not exactly what we were all expecting. No, we do not have fruit trees on the corner of Penn Ave, and no, root vegetables do not grow on the National Mall. (Wouldn’t that be crazy though!) But, according to this story on NPR, Mr. Thayer has managed to find leafy greens in our very own city. And though the station’s website provides a nice recipe idea for a wild-greens frittata, the idea of finding food growing on the city streets does seem a little strange to we yuppies.

But why not? What if cities were planned around producing our own food? Rather than a couple of trees here or there, plant a few trees that produce edible fruits and vegetables; rather than bushes lining the sidewalks, line hedges of edible plants. I am sure that there is some sort of law to prohibit this in D.C., obstruction of the peace, or the concern that homeless people would have the option of finding food growing on the streets rather than digging through trashcans. However, it’s something to consider. If the purpose of a tree is to create a nice atmosphere, isn’t a tree that provides atmosphere and nutrition even more valuable?