Eat Weeds: A field guide to foraging: how to identify, harvest, eat and use wild plants

Description

There is food within 3 metres of your front door. Three generations ago it was common practice all over the world to collect this wild food; knowledge of what, where and when to forage was a necessary part of daily life. We still had lived experience of harvesting wild food with our own hands. But with the advent of supermarket culture the knowledge associated with foraging has mostly been lost. Today, we want this knowledge back. From forest to seaside, riverbank to city street - even your own yard - there is wild food and medicine available to those who know where to look. In the face of global challenges such as climate change, food insecurity and pandemics, we seek to empower ourselves with the information and skills that enable self-reliance and equip us to care for our families and communities. Eat Weeds shows you how to engage with wild food sources, transforming your neighbourhood into an edible adventure.

Diego Bonetto grew up on a dairy farm in northern Italy when it was still common practice to collect the wild produce of the land. He moved to Australia in the mid-90s and spent years working in orchards and garden centres, where he realised how rare his foraging knowledge was - and how much the people around him longed to rekindle their untapped connection to nature. He now runs foraging workshops that teach participants how to engage with delicious wild food while starting conversations around belonging, sustainability and agency. He has collaborated with chefs, herbalists, environmentalists and cultural workers; he is also an artist passionate about using his practice to restore botanical literacy to communities. Diego has been featured by Marie Claire, GQ Australia, Lonely Planet, The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC and SBS, among other media outlets.