Why Buy a Foraging Pass?

There are many different reasons why people go foraging, and there are many different reasons someone might be interested in purchasing a foraging pass from The Ecoculture Project.

Reasons for foraging:

  1. We believe the main reason people like to go foraging is to connect with the natural world. There is perhaps no more intimate way to engage with nature than through sustaining yourself with nature’s bounty. Harvesting food from the earth, then preparing and eating that food cultivates deep gratitude that grows into a profound love for nature.

  2. Gourmet food: It’s not a coincidence that some of the finest and most expensive food on the market is wild food. These are flavors that can’t be experienced from a grocery store or even sometimes in a restaurant. Wild food was never domesticated for size, color, or for shelf-stability. It is best gathered from the source.

  3. Health and wellness: There is much research that has revealed that wild foods are much more nutritious than their domestic counter parts. Additionally, the sheer diversity of species available to the forager dwarfs the 30 or so species that are found available to the modern western diet. This means there are compounds with medicinal and nutritional benefits that can’t be experienced otherwise.

  4. Survivalism and resilience: Many people are interested in learning what it would take to survive without the trappings of modern life. While we can hope these skills never become necessary to utilize, it is a good feeling knowing you could provide for your family and even for your community if disruptions to our food supplies ever happen.

  5. Cost effectiveness: A wonderful benefit of foraging is that it’s a free activity, that provides a genuine tangible caloric, culinary, nutritional, medicinal, and enjoyment value to your life. When so much of modern life involves paying more and more money for less and less real tangible value to our lives, it’s no wonder there has been such an explosion of foraging interest in recent years.

So why would someone want to tarnish the purity of foraging by bringing money into the picture?

Reasons for buying an Ecoculture Project foraging pass:

  1. One of the greatest reasons you might purchase a foraging pass is to support grass roots ecological restoration work on declining marginal land. Foragers develop profound love for the natural world and deep ecological understanding through their intimacy with nature. Thus foragers become nature’s greatest champions, seeking to reciprocate nature’s gifts.

  2. Sustainable foraging: When you go foraging at one of our restoration sites then you know that you are foraging in an area that is being managed sustainably and regularly monitored to ensure the abundance continues for generations to come.

  3. Legal foraging: In New Jersey, where this project started, and many other (especially Northeastern) states, most public lands regulate against foraging. While it’s doubtful in many instances that someone would stop you from picking some berries or mushrooms, it’s nice to know that you are foraging in a place where foragers are welcome.

  4. New to foraging: If you are new to foraging and would like to learn with guidance from experts and in a space that you know has opportunities, then this would be the perfect way to dive into the world of foraging.

  5. Cost effectiveness: While purchasing a foraging pass isn’t free, it is a wonderful opportunity to procure an incredible amount of value for a bargain. For example, you can bring home a full harvest of the best food in the world while learning how to sustain yourself and sustain the bounty of nature at the same time, for what is roughly the price of a typical vehicle entry fee for a state park. The more you know, the more value you can receive… and give back too!