If you’re accustomed to shelling out big bucks for organic food, remember you can still find it in the ground, in the wild, and free of charge. Once a month Wes Wagar convenes the Foraging Friends, a group of natural foodies and other interested parties, at the Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park. From there they carpool to various forest preserves, vacant lots, and sometimes private properties (with the owners’ permission), where they hunt for mustard, garlic, black currants, grapes, mushrooms, nuts, and seeds. They also gather dandelion greens, from the hearty weed now springing up in most Chicago yards, which happens to outweigh even spinach in nutritive value.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Why bother foraging when you can get all this stuff at Jewel? Mostly to take advantage of the higher nutritional values that accompany true organic food, explains Wagar, and to combat the agribusiness practices and increased genetic engineering that are harming the land.
