A mum forages for own dinner and eats poisonous mushrooms. Madara Riley, 38, discovered foraging aged six after watching her grandparents pick fungi in her native Latvia . After moving to Mansfield, Nottingham, Madara taught her partner, Matthew Riley, 44, and her two children - Camellia, 16, and Riley, 11 - how to find food outside.
Now the mum-of-two forages "luxury" mushrooms for her dishes - some of which fetch up to £80 a tub online when sold in powder form. Other ingredients she forages for her "gourmet meals" include edible plants for salads, herbs for seasoning, and nettles for medicinal use. Madara claims strangers have accused her of being "too poor" to afford food, but she insists she's the one "living in luxury".
Through years of experience identifying fungi, Madara even specialises in making certain poisonous mushrooms safe to eat. Madara, a quality assurance officer and fungi expert, originally from Latvia, said: "British people are terrified of mushrooms. "They're fungi-phobic.
They don't know about the incredible properties and health benefits each mushroom can bring to your diet. Some people are shocked when I pick poisonous mushrooms but I am trained and know how to prepare them correctly so they are safe to eat. "The mushrooms I pick are rare and usually expensive if bought.
Other people have thought that I'm too poor to afford my own food - but if anything, I'm the one that is living in luxury." After discovering foraging at a young age, Madara brought he.