Urban foraging can help solve food crisis by changing how we eat
One gets to see the plethora of colours nature offers in the form of wild edible fruits in India as summer arrives.
Upon asking why these fruits are so costly, Shankar, who sells the foraged mulberry said: “Didi, ab bohot dhoondhana padta hai, mehnat zyada padti hai, isiliye”. (It takes a lot of time and labour to search these fruits now. So, it influences the cost.) He is not wrong in saying this.
Foraging in India is not a new phenomenon. Urban foraging is ubiquitous and has existed since the establishment and development of cities. It is the practice of gathering biological resources within urban and peri-urban settings.
Some people use foraging to make their living and survive. But for the majority, it is a form of cultural, recreational and nutritional enrichment. Foraging provides additional income to vulnerable communities and enhances livelihoods.
These types of fruits and weeds are generally considered to be health-promoting, as they contain more nutrients than staple crops and some are resistant to harsh weather conditions as well. These micronutrients and proteins may not be accessible to many people and they help build the immune response to various diseases.
They also play an instrumental role in maintaining positive mental health, since practitioners have reported feeling connected to nature and strengthening social bonds.
Foraging also contributes to the preservation of local ethnobotanical and ethnoecological knowledge.
Foraging in urban systems has the potential to improve social-ecological resilience, especially in the face of climate change, economic disruptions, and disease outbreaks. But the question is, are our cities suited to carry on this tradition?
As cities are becoming increasingly populous, and with researchers estimating that two billion extra people will need to be fed by 2050, the issue of food sources has become more pressing.
Urban foraging can contribute to solving the crisis by changing how we eat now. Our choices can have dramatic consequences for the planet.
Unsustainable urbanisation and development affect the ecology of organisms in urban habitats. City biodiversity is fundamental for human health and well-being. It also delivers a wide range of ecosystem services.
A city’s institutional, financial as well as physical capabilities often amplify disruptions and changes of any kind, like we witnessed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The fact that Indian cities are designed to provide secondary production of goods and services within factories and offices, with low priority given to providing natural spaces that are both accessible and interactive, is of concern.
Diversifying and localising resource production can reduce industry’s impact. Foraging plays an important role here.
De-densifying and interspersing industrial spaces with multifunctional natural spaces will help preserve urban biodiversity and provide ecosystem services for human welfare.
Planting and maintaining species and habitats for foraging is, therefore, likely to contribute to greater coexistence and diversity of plant and animal species in cities, alongside humans, thus increasing natural capital.
Urbanisation, low profitability: Why prices of tamarind leaves in Andhra Pradesh have rocketed
Foragers preserve and propagate important knowledge while contributing to the local economy by utilising foraged species outside of mainstream economies.
In these critical times when climate change is severely impacting natural systems with cascading effects on human and social capital, this practice must continue to soothe the effects.
In doing so, city planners have to draw attention to the designs of the development projects and focus their concerns over the rapidly shrinking access to public spaces.
With the expansion of the build-up spaces in the urban and peri-urban areas, it is becoming very difficult to continue this practice.
As a complex and dynamic activity that contributes to urban livability, individual well-being and socio-environmental equity in many ways, urban foraging cries out for better urban planning and management of biodiversity.
However, as a forager, it is equally important to contribute to the ecosystem and be responsible. Here are a few ways an individual can contribute to make this process safer and more sustainable:
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth.
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