All over the world and throughout history, there have been people who’ve used foraging as a way to supplement their diet during times of scarcity. Recently foraging has picked up as a luxury outdoor hobby in the US. However, this hides the fact that this skill has been the backbone of food security when people have gone through hard times.

Case Study: Bosnia

Source:  Redžić, S., & Ferrier, J. (2014). The Use of Wild Plants for Human Nutrition During a War: Eastern Bosnia (Western Balkans). In Springer eBooks (pp. 149–182). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1492-0_9

During the Bosnian war in the early 90’s, civilians began to lose weight and suffer from malnutrition from lack of food, and pregnant people started having miscarriages from their poor health. In this same region during WWI and WWII people refused to use wild foods and died as a result. But during the Bosnian war people started foraging wild plants and hunted to get the nutrition they needed.

In the city of Sarajevo, people could only connect to the outside world from radios. The siege on the city meant no food could be shipped in. Slowly their reserves of flour began to dwindle. Ecologist Sulejman Redžić – famous in the area for a popular TV show about foraging – began broadcasting emergency radio transmissions into the city from a nearby university, telling people what wild plants could be used to make flour safely. But he was soon blocked from transmitting by the war.

The siege continued. Those who heard the transmissions or had other resources, began to forage for essentials. Not everyone liked the new diets, but there are no records of anyone hurt by poisonous wild foods.

After a brief period of peace, the situation worsened. Sarajevo was invaded. The people ran away into abandoned hills and woods. For over three months people lived in caves and ate only what they could collect. Wild birds, snails, snakes and other foods they would have never tolerated before. It was only in 1995, three years after the seige began, that the conflict ended. The people never returned to the city – it was taken by the enemy.

In 2014 Sulejman Redžić returned and found the former people of Sarajevo – interviewing them about their experiences. They were enthusiastic about contributing – remembering him from the war and before. According to their stories, they often ate wild plants as vegetables in stews, and to a lesser extent also used them in salads and drinks. Over 147 wild species were reportedly consumed. The most commonly eaten plants were high in Vitamin C and A – these are both typical deficiencies in times of conflict or poverty.

In talking about their experiences, they also shared that unfortunately as the hunger persisted, people began to withhold sharing food – even sometimes to their own family members. But in the places which had access to foraging, even as they lost weight and suffered from malnutrition they did not suffer from major health complications  – the wild foods provided vitamins and minerals they needed to stay as healthy as possible despite the circumstances.

Case Study: Netherlands

Source: Vorstenbosch, T., De Zwarte, I., Duistermaat, L., & Van Andel, T. (2017). Famine food of vegetal origin consumed in the Netherlands during World War II. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-017-0190-7

The Hunger Winter of 1944 was a mass famine event in the wartime Netherlands. A combination of factors including the war, theft by nazi elites, a bad frost, and fuel shortages, led to a cold season with little to no food available for regular people. The Government tried a few strategies to help avoid mass death.

Towns opened free food stations where people could come eat. Initially this provided around 1400 calories a day (about 2/3 of what people normally eat) but this dropped down to only 500 as the situation got worse. The quality was known to be horrible – people remembered throwing up after eating rotten-tasting foods.

Dishes were often made of potato peels or sugar beets. Some remember eating a foam made of sugar beets – you had to eat it quickly or it would disolve. Later on the government moved towards recommending people eat tulip bulbs – before the war these were exported as a luxury good, and now sat useless in the fields. These bulbs although not poisonous were still somewhat toxic, and left people with horrible stomach aches.

The government also published a series of articles and cookbooks showing how to harvest and prepare wild foods. These had a mix of wild greens as well as nuts and mushrooms which could be commonly found in the woods. However, as the winter got worse people began chopping down the trees for firewood. Some children were sent out to dig in train coal piles to look for chunks that were still good to be burned. We don’t know if the books helped people learn edible wild plants – the Dutch who lived through the hunger winter say that everyone seemed to suddenly know what to eat, but don’t remember using many of the plants that the government wrote about.

The rural people forged a greater range of wild foods than urban people, but some plants were common to both. Stinging nettles in particular were harvested everywhere – people hunted for them all through the streets of amsterdam. In the cities people also began to grow small gardens in unused patches of land, growing whatever vegetables they could.

Despite all these efforts, many still died. Dutch historians estimate around 20,000 people starved, mostly elderly men.

As the winter faded and the war came to an end, the skills of foraging also were forgotten. Unlike in areas like the Balkans, Middle East, or Greece, the people did not return to times of poverty and instead increasingly gained wealth and stability. Now there is little memory or tradition around wild foods in the Netherlands.

Case Study: Syria

Source: Sulaiman, N., Pieroni, A., Sõukand, R., & Polesny, Z. (2022). Food Behavior in Emergency Time: Wild Plant Use for Human Nutrition during the Conflict in Syria. Foods, 11(2), 177. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11020177

Foraging has always been part of Syrian culture. Prior to the war, people would go out and collect healthy fresh greens and enjoy the outdoors. As the conflict set in, these skills would become essential to survival and well-being – switching from side dishes to the main course.

The Syrian war began in 2011, now over a decade later 60% of the population is food insecure, and domestic production of wheat has dropped by a quarter. The financial turmoil of war massively inflated the price of a kilogram of fresh produce and meat – to 3% and 13% of typical monthly incomes. For someone in the USA making $30,000 a year, that would mean $75 for 2lbs of vegetables (about 10 carrots) and $325 for 2lbs of meat (between 1-2 trays of hamburger meat). The price of bread held steady due to government support – about a nickel, which would be like spending $3 to most Americans. Olive oil was produced in community so was freely available.

This all led to a unique circumstance – the Syrian people had access to cooking oil and bread, but fresh meat and produce was completely unaffordable. Malnutrition, not starvation, was the main threat.

Older people faced with the price of produce leaned on their traditions to forage for and cook healthy foods. Wid greens and spices gave the people essential nutrients and kept up morale. Younger people however often felt ashamed – thinking that these old-fashioned foods were signs of poverty and low prestige.

The most commonly cooked dish was sauteed onions and wild vegetables, called Sleeq. This was either eaten as a main vegetable, or added as a topping to dishes like pizza or tabbouleh (a dish made of ground wheat – similar to cold rice – mixed with vegetables and seasonings).

Wild spices were harvested to make Zaatar seasoning (similar to pesto) that was either mixed with olive oil and eaten directly, or used to flavor breads and other dishes. Zaatar is made of dried ground herbs, and stored all year in jars or bags.

In some rural areas, a traditional stew called Louf was eaten more frequently as the conflict progressed. Louf is made of a toxic plant that is carefully processed with techniques used for generations. This is similar to how toxic Pokeweed is used to make the traditional food Poke Sallet in parts of the southeast.

These dishes provide valuable vitamins and minerals – especially iron and vitamin A – not otherwise affordable or available in Syrians diets during the war. Reseachers found over 12% of children and 25% of women suffered from chronic malnutrition, especially anemia. Foraging for sleeq, zaatar, and louf, directly addresses these health concerns.

Conclusion

What lessons can we learn from these stories?

Including foraging early and often into our cultures triggers a protective effect

In Syria, regular people turned to existing traditions and delicious foods they already knew when conflict arrived. In comparison Bosnians had to self-experiment with plants of unknown safety, and relied on botanists teaching them in emergency conditions over short wave radios.

Valuing foraged foods and incorporating them into delicious meals helps mental + physical health in times of adversity

The young people of Syria felt ashamed that they were eating wild plants because they were not valued in popular culture. During WWII many people died because they were unable to get over their feelings of disgust when eating unusual foods. By making these foods a part of our diet now we can help reduce shame and fear, and encourage people to try new things when they’re safe and well fed before an emergency makes the situation a life-or-death concern.

Traditional plant culture should be kept alive

The dutch had few wild food cultures remaining, and possibly ignored edible plants out of ignorance. The Syrians by contrast had traditions not only of edible plants, but processing of toxic plants to make them safe and healthy. Learning these traditions from the elderly and keeping them alive means we are better able to respond to challenging times, and also can feel a rich connection to culture and history.

We need to protect each other

People are at different degrees of risk when put into situations of food scarcity. In Syria, young people and those who could have babies suffered from malnutrition at significantly higher rates. In the Netherlands during the hunger winter, it was mostly old men who died of starvation. Bosnians reported that during the famines, people would often hide food, even from their family members. We need to make sure the cultures we build now focus on caring for the weak and vulnerable, and do not divide us. Groups that work together – such as the communal production of olive oil in Syria – can be much better protected than those who split apart. The dutch suddenly knowing which foods were edible meant that neighbors were teaching each other, and potentially sharing food. Even though their food kitchens were disgusting, the Netherlands provided essential calories to the people in times when little was available.