-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email This article originally appeared on FoodPrint . At the Horn Farm Center in south central Pennsylvania, the mission is to teach people to grow and source their own food while forming a regenerative relationship with the land — including through hands-on foraging experiences. Jon Darby has now been teaching foraging at Horn Farm for 15 years, leading monthly two-hour foraging walks that emphasize ethical foraging of seasonally available staples, like chickweed and rose hips.
But recently, Darby says, “We’ve definitely seen an increase in participation.” While six or seven people per class was the norm when starting out, the foraging walks nowadays are capped at 30 participants — with a waiting list. Horn Farm is now offering a new eight-week training program with intensive foraging classes that cover botany terminology, plant identification, safety best practices, culinary uses and more.
Programs are mostly geared towards adults, but the organization partners with a nearby farm that’s focused on teaching younger people. “It’s not unusual for someone to tell me they drove two hours to take a class,” Darby notes. “I do think that kind of speaks to an increase in interest and also the lack of places offering this.
” Across the country, foraging tours run by experts with local area knowledge provide an accessible entry point for those interested in learning how to gather their own food. And according to some of the people.