Inside the trend - foraging
The Forager’s Calendar by John Wright was one of our most popular titles at September’s trade shows. So, for this month’s 'Inside the trend' blog we take a deeper look at why foraging has grown in popularity and what books you should be looking out for.
What do we mean by foraging?
Foraging is the act of identifying and gathering ingredients that grow in the wild for free. It’s an activity that would have been a way of life for our ancestors but has now become a popular hobby and provides a trendy twist to many British restaurant menus. It’s not just about using natural produce as a food source, but also for healing and wellness.
Why now?
Like a lot of recent trends, popularity in foraging can perhaps be traced back to the beginning of the pandemic when food shortages in supermarkets were a reality and the daily walk prompted people to observe and interact with their local area more closely. In 2021, Wild Food UK reported a 25% increase in visitors to their website and bumper interest in their courses.
TV programmes, such as the Great British Menu, have demonstrated what can be done with locally sourced ingredients, and of course TikTok has given visibility to the foraging community online. With growing concern over food security and ongoing debate about how we can feed our growing population sustainably, foraging is a practice that is likely to remain popular for some time.
How can I introduce it into my ranges?
With foraging becoming more mainstream, this theme can appeal to a broad set of customers, but especially those who are interested in good food, enjoy the outdoors and who care about living sustainably. Accomplished home cooks might be curious about mimicking the restaurant trend for using wild ingredients, so foraging guides will complement cookbooks nicely. Foraging fits in well with outdoors themes, and beauty and wellness since wild ingredients can be used for creating natural remedies and beauty products too. Foraging is not just a rural passtime, wild foods are available in coastal and urban environments and there is a thriving foraging community in London.
Book suggestions
The Forager’s Calendar
A consistent bestseller for us, this paperback edition guides the reader through a year of foraging opportunities. Author John Wright is considered to be one of the UK’s leading experts in this field.
The Hedgegrow Apothecary: The Forager’s Handbook
With its pretty cover, this popular foraging companion uses beautiful photography and clever design to help foragers identify, prepare and preserve their finds.
The Concise Foraging Guide
This practical pocket guide sells consistently and will help foragers identify 194 edible ingredients using detailed illustrations and helpful descriptions.
Wild Magic
Author Fern Freud is one of social media’s rising foraging stars. In her forthcoming book Wild Magic, she offers 80 healing recipes and rituals that make the most of wild ingredients. Due to be published in February.
Urban Foraging
Perfect for people living in cities, this stylish book explains how to identify, harvest and cook with up to 50 common wild plants.
