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I am an Interior Architecture and Design student at Nottingham Trent University and have set up this website in order to investigate foraging as an activity in the 21st century. I aim to come up with a solution as to how the public can be educated on foraging.
I will look into why, as a society we don’t forage, is it because we haven’t been educated? Why are we afraid to eat and use what is growing naturally? Can our perceptions of wild produce can be changed? Can a reconnection with where our food comes from be introduced to the UK? Can this be done by bringing the countryside to the city, or by taking the city to the countryside?
I will begin my research by looking at foraging, focusing on foraging in urban areas.
I intend to look into why people collect, whether there is a psychological connection with collecting.
I will question the public by producing a questionnaire. This will help me understand the public’s knowledge on foraging, whether they understand what foraging is, and where they can forage. I will be able to evaluate whether the public have a want to forage and a desire to learn more about it. I will also question why the public buy their groceries from certain places.
I will interview the founder of an urban harvesting network based in Sheffield in order to understand the original intentions of the project, as well as how it has an impact on the community.
Researching urban foraging will help me determine a brief and enable me to answer the questions I have set out to answer.
A common activity whilst walking in the countryside with my family is foraging. My parents always seem to have a carrier bag with them, ready to be filled with treats of the season. Once home, we’ll make something of our findings, anything from jam to gin. The sourcing of our own produce triggers a want to create something of it. I want to look at why people forage; is it about the actual collecting of objects, or being able to create a product from your own findings. Foraging can be a shared experience, or a secret one – people may keep a location to themselves so they can go back for more. Can this experience be brought into the city?
My research project will investigate the foraging experience in the countryside, and will question the public’s knowledge on foraging. I will look into whether people understand where produce comes from; why we buy produce from supermarkets, when there are readily available resources on our doorsteps; and the psychology behind why we are afraid to eat/use what is growing naturally. We bypass wild fruits, nuts, herbs and flowers in our streets, parks, and even our back gardens everyday, this is because we have not been educated and are unable to identify what is safe. Can our perceptions of wild produce be changed?
Restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, forages its ingredients from the surrounding countryside and coast, creating a special and unique menu and experience for its customers, ever changing with the seasons. “In an effort to shape our way of cooking, we look to our landscape and delve into our ingredients and culture, hoping to rediscover our history and shape our future.” Could this connection with food be introduced into our cities in the UK?
I will look into current urban foraging, how successful it is, and what is available to be foraged in the city, but will also investigate whether the public has a want to forage and learn more about it. Could this depth of knowledge, and awareness of this experience be achieved by bringing the countryside to the city, or by taking the city to the countryside?
