Foraging for Food Across Nihon in "Eating Wild Japan" | Talking with author Winifred Bird

Have you ever wondered what a 10-course feast centered on Bamboo would be like, or if you could survive by foraging for wild foods in the forest? These are issues Winifred Bird discusses in her book "Eating Wild Japan".

Winifred is a writer who spent months traveling across Japan to talk with local people who are carrying on traditions of foraging for food in the forests and seas.

Buy The Book | Winifred Bird's Official Website

This was such an interesting talk with Winifred and it is a richly detailed book that a wide audience will enjoy.

I found the crossover between cultivated and wild foods so interesting as well as the reminder that the ways of our ancestors was less wasteful, more focused on only taking what we need and nurturing the rest to grow when future generations may need it. On the flip side, the concept that choosing not to eat horse chestnuts for example, or bamboo shoots, or choosing to use plastic for single-use cutlery and baskets (and in the fishing industry) instead of bamboo can cause the crops to become wild, or cut to oblivion.

A new angle from which to admire how conservationism and commerce are connected and key to our own survival.

Watch the video of the interview with Winnie here which includes a show of her photos.