Foraging Ahead: My Wild Food Tour In Asheville, North Carolina

Foraging: the act of finding and collecting wild foods. It’s an activity that was vital to our ancestors to sustain life. These days, to the average human, the idea of foraging is riddled with fear and confusion. But does it have to be that way? Out to change that is No Taste Like Home, a wild food and foraging tour company based in Asheville, North Carolina.

Changing The Narrative Around Wild Foods & Foraging

Is foraging legal? Is it bad for the environment? Is foraging innate or learned?

These are the top queries on Google when it comes to foraging for mushrooms and other wild edibles. And I must admit: I was wondering the same questions upon my arrival to our foraging grounds. But after my tour with No Taste Like Home and an interview with it’s founder, Alan Muskat, I’ve come to realize that we’re asking the wrong questions.

My No Taste Like Home tour began in a parking lot just outside of Asheville, where our guides introduced themselves while handing us each a basket that we’d be filling along the way alongside harvesting tools. After that I got familiar with the other tourists that I’d be spending the next three hours with. All of them were there for different reasons: some wanted to live a more wholistic life and others wanted to improve their health, while the remaining bunch just seemed curious. For myself, I was there to test my sneaking suspicion that wild foods would not just bring about better health and nutrition, but a sense of comfort and confidence when it comes to feeling at home in the nature that surrounds and holds us.

Before we even left the parking lot there were edibles all around us; chomp-worthy leaves hanging in the tree above us, tangy petals blooming in the garden beside us, and small “fairy” potatoes hiding in the bushes. While the adults were set on learning about technicalities (how to identify a plant, what benefits they offer), the kids had one thing on their minds: picking and eating.

I found myself torn between the two ideas; my adult brain wanted to memorize what I was learning about plants like I was cramming for a test, while the child inside me wanted to sample all of the flavors and foods before me. I would later learn in my interview with Alan that the later is the best way to learn about foraging.

“If I were to ask you, ‘How can you tell cabbage from ice burg lettuce?’, most of us can. And I’d say, ‘How did you learn that? Did you go to school to learn that? Did your parents sit you down and explain the difference?’ No, it just happened.” – Alan Muskat

How To Tell If Mushrooms Are Dangerous: It’s Easier (And Harder) Than You Think

In addition to foraging for mushrooms, we also found amaranth leaf, birch, nettle, and wood sorrel along the way. The adults wanted to know if there was a sure way to tell if what we’d picked up was dangerous or not. “There is no simple answer as how to tell what is edible and what isn’t. Because that’s the unnatural way; it’s the way that we’re taught in school. It relies on conceptual thinking, also known as generalizations, also known as prejudice,” responds Muskat. Although I didn’t want to hear it at first, uncovering which plants are dangerous for human consumption is something that we naturally come to realize along the way. It can’t be forced.

As we strolled along, we filled our baskets with clippings and pickings from the greenery around us. Our guide would stop us every dozen feet or so to point out an edible plant that none of us have ever noticed before or answer a question about ones that were more recognizable. During the middle of the tour we were sent off on our own to collect plants, bring them back, and ask questions about them. Meandering into the woods, I realized I had questions about most of the plants that surrounded me. Only bringing a handful of them back, I plopped them on a blanket and ate my plant-based lunch while I waited for the others to return.

When they came back and dumped their findings, our picnic blanket became covered by small white mushrooms of all sorts, interesting leaves, and other plants that I’ve seen for years but know nothing about. Having the chance to sit down (literally) and asked an experienced guide questions while satisfying herbal curiosity felt like a bonus of the tour.

Can Wild Foods Re-Wild Us?

At the end, we brought our filled baskets to a shaded picnic table and talked about our findings while our guides cooked up a sample plate of wild foods. Filled with earthy grays, oranges and greens, the savory snack was even more satisfying knowing that it was free and collected with our own hands, as nature intended.

Beyond teaching me about wild edibles that surround me at any given moment, my tour with No Taste Like Home and interview with Alan taught me a few things: One, that we’re not asking the right questions about foraging to begin with. Instead of asking if foraging is legal, we should be asking how making foraging something to get locked up over in the first place ever came about. Two, that foraging is comes natural to us as human beings, and learning about it in childhood should be something as important as math or English (but it’s never too late to learn!). And finally — and maybe most importantly — that foraging is a way of being, not doing.

You can learn more about No Taste Like Home by visiting their website and listen to an interview with the founder on the Unruly Travel & Alternative Living podcast. Cover photo by No Taste Like Home.