Issue 6:
Born to be Wild: Rising Popularity of Uncultivated Foods
The economic and commercial impact of wild foods is growing. Humans have been foraging for food since the dawn of time, but only recently have the benefits of wild foods been rediscovered and nutritionally analyzed—opening up a growing consumer interest and commercial demand.
The term “wild” in today’s food marketplace is a common and loosely defined verb. It can mean anything from “hot and spicy” to “exciting”. No formal, common definition exists, but to serious foodies and foragers it means: Any edible plant that grows without cultivation, or any animal taken from its natural habitat for human consumption. Or simply “uncultivated and in its natural state.”
Growing consumer interest in wild foods is based on a number of factors, including nutrition, local sourcing, sustainability, and economics. On the most basic level, foragers, some of whom are highly successful entrepreneurs, glean wild fruits, vegetables, and herbs from rural fields and forests for themselves and often restaurants and small grocery stores. Some of the more successful foragers sell packaged food online. Many have written books and created videos to help people understand how to safely find and identify wild food for their own consumption. Search “wild food” or “forage” and the results are extensive.
On the commercial level, wild foods are a common, albeit small, niche in the retail grocery industry and popular with restaurants featuring unique, locally sourced foods. Leading examples are pure maple syrup, wild blueberries, and American black walnuts. All these products are sourced from native, uncultivated sources. In addition, wild mushrooms, authentic wild rice, herbs, and many forms of fresh greens are increasingly available online and in retail stores. Line caught fish and, where local laws permit it, wild game also are showing increasing popularity.
One of the most prolific foragers is Bryan Jessop, who forages for chefs in and around the San Francisco Bay area. “Wild foods aren't just delicious, they're some of the healthiest and most nutrient dense things we can eat. They’re organic, growing in diverse wild soils. They require no planting or watering. They're a good way to use land and a reason to leave spaces wild and biodiverse.”
Today, foraging remains a highly localized activity supporting both foodservice and online direct to consumer sales of specialty products. Companies like Mikuni Wild Harvest, Wild Pantry, and Foraged & Found Edibles offer a wide variety of plants gleaned in the wild. Wild meats and seafoods also are available from companies like Marx Foods.
However, if the definition of wild is rooted in “uncultivated”, the landscape must also include the larger commercially available foods such as wild blueberries, indigenous to coastal Maine, and Canada’s Maritime Provinces, maple syrup, primarily from maple trees in New England and eastern Canada, and American black walnuts, common to Missouri and much of the eastern U.S. Each of these wild foods are “wild harvested” in different ways, but each relies on natural, uncultivated sources.
Since Maple trees, particularly the Sugar Maple, grow in considerable abundance throughout New England, cultivation is unnecessary. Wild trees are simply tapped in the early Spring to gather sap. Wild blueberries are indigenous to the U.S. and highly localized. They’re extremely difficult to cultivate, so acreage is limited. While subject to irrigation and some mechanical harvesting, the plants themselves are uncultivated. American black walnuts truly are the wild cousin of the cultivated English walnut. Black walnut trees are abundant throughout Missouri and surrounding states. One company, Hammons Products, has created a network of hulling stations that pay foragers to collect nuts in the fall. Several million pounds are shipped to Stockton, Mo., each year for shelling. Nut meats are sold for home and commercial baking, restaurant use, and inclusions in ice cream. Black walnut oil and flour also are under development.
The nutritional advantages of wild foods are becoming better understood through research. Since they’ve had to survive without the advantages of cultivation, they tend to have unique and nutrient dense properties. “Living in the wild is dangerous and stressful for all creatures, including plants. The stress that wild plants undergo causes them to develop protective mechanisms to help them survive,” says nutrition expert Kitty Broihier, an advisor to the Wild Blueberry Association of North America.
According to a post on VeryWellFit.com, “Not only do wild foods often contain more phytochemicals overall, but they may also contain a wider variety of them (such as blue pigments called anthocyanins). Anthocyanins are linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and breast cancer, and appear to improve blood cholesterol levels and blood sugar metabolism.
A 2013 academic study, Bioactive Food as Dietary Interventions for Liver and Gastrointestinal Disease, reported that, “…wild foods have been found a promising source of hepatobiliary protection and lipid lowering of the body. Their leaves, stem, roots, or any live parts which have deposits of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals provide the recommended daily requirements in the body as food.”
As for wild game, “...fat from wild game contains a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Their nutrition statistics are very similar to a skinless chicken breast, with most cuts having around 110 to 130 calories, 2 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein for a 3 oz. serving. Deer, elk and antelope have a vitamin and mineral composition similar to beef, so these meats are good sources of iron (5 mg/4 oz.), B12 (3.6 mcg/4 oz.), B6, niacin and riboflavin," according to Dr. Melina Jampolis, a CNN health, diet and fitness consultant.
Wild game also has shown to have high amounts of iron and zinc, and naturally contain no antibiotics or growth hormones.
The American black walnut has a rich legacy and an even more exciting future. Please let us know how we can provide more insight and information. We hope you include Black Walnuts in any upcoming articles or blogs related to nutrition, sustainability, superfoods, tree nuts, or any of the product categories where Black Walnuts are used.
This report may be reprinted or quoted with attribution.
Learn more at:
wildblackwalnuts.org
American Black Walnut Marketing Board | (417) 276-5181