The joy of foraging your own food | Alexis Nikole Nelson

Elise Hu (0:03)

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu.

There's a whole world of food growing just outside, in our backyards, around our sidewalks, the parks we walk through every day, and most of us pass by it without a second glance. Alexis Nikole Nelson wants to change that. Known to millions on social media as the Black Forager, the self-described ethno-botany nerd has spent years teaching people how to spot, harvest, and cook the wild plants hiding in plain sight. And it all started when she was five years old in her mother's garden.

Alexis Nikole Nelson (0:39)

You tell a five-year-old, actually, you could just be going and getting some food out of your lawn and nobody even put it there. As a child, I thought it was crazy that everyone wasn't talking about it, and that everyone didn't think that was the coolest thing they had ever heard.

Elise Hu (0:54)

In this conversation with TED curator, Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Alexis makes the case that foraging isn't just about free food. It's about the wonder of wild food and how paying closer attention to what's already around us can reconnect us to the land, our communities, and each other.

Alexis Nikole Nelson (1:11)

I think it's just as important to know the names of the trees growing on your block as it is to know the names of your neighbors who live on your block. And I think your world feels fuller and your world feels brighter when you can do those things.

Elise Hu (1:26)

They also get into how to start without getting overwhelmed, how to forage responsibly, and the surprising and troubling history of why foraging became so restricted in this country in the first place. That's coming up right after a short break.

And now, our TED Conversation of the Day.

Whitney Pennington Rodgers (1:54)

Thank you for being with us, Alexis. It's so exciting to have you here. And what exactly is foraging? It's just finding things in the wild to eat. Is that right? Is that all it is?

Alexis Nikole Nelson (2:04)

Yeah. So I would describe foraging as the act of properly identifying the things that are in the wild, the things that are in the wild, the act of properly identifying and then gathering and then utilizing wild plants, nuts, seeds, fruits, fungi, any of the not animal neighbors of ours. It's being able to identify them properly and know their uses. Some people forage just strictly for food. Some people forage for medicinals.

There's a lot of different ways to forage.

Whitney Pennington Rodgers (2:37)

And you gave a whole TED Talk about this, which I mentioned and I'd encourage everyone to watch if you haven't. But how did you get into foraging?

Alexis Nikole Nelson (2:45)

So my introduction to foraging comes to me by way of my mother. When I was growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, she has always been such an avid gardener. So the way that you spend time with her during her time off was outside in the garden. And I've always been just a really curious mind. So I, of course, would ask her questions about all of the different plants that she planted. And before long, she was teaching me about all of the different uses of them and not just of the plants she put there on purpose, but also of some of the weeds that had just come up, which for me, as like a five-year-old was absolutely mind-blowing. You tell a five-year-old, actually, you could just be going and getting some food out of your lawn and nobody even put it there.

As a child, I thought it was crazy that everyone wasn't talking about it and that everyone didn't think that was the coolest thing they had ever heard. So I just kind of started storing away all of that knowledge. And every time my mom or a teacher at school or a summer camp counselor taught me a new plant, I'd just kind of squirrel it away into my Rolodex of plants in my brain.

Whitney Pennington Rodgers (3:59)

Well, your book, Happy Snacking, Don't Die comes out in a few days. So first, congratulations on that.

Elise Hu (4:04)

Thank you.

Whitney Pennington Rodgers (4:05)

And it's really a beautiful book with gorgeous pictures and artwork, and it's part cookbook, it's part foraging guide, it's part encyclopedia and so many other things. Could you tell us a little bit about what the book is and why you wrote it?

Elise Hu (4:22)

Yeah.

Alexis Nikole Nelson (4:22)

When I was growing up, you know, going through all of my mom's books on plants, and then later going and checking out tons of books from the library, I grew up at this kind of crux between my mom who loved all things plants and my dad who loves cooking and is a very accomplished cook. And so I was always trying to bring those two worlds together.