Foraging for Edibles, Food Toxicity, and Forest Management

The cover art bounty was collected on August 25, 2018 on private property near Athens, Georgia. The adventure began when a member of the Athens Wild Foraging Facebook group (Josh Wayne) posted a picture of his muscadine harvest. We created a Facebook event for gathering and the two of us ended up meeting up and exploring a forest in Athens. At first, we saw many small muscadine plants, but the forest seemed to be too shady for them to fruit. After meandering through the woods for a while, just enjoying the presence of each other and the plants, we eventually stumbled upon a field. Because the field had been cleared for some reason before, there was plenty of sun to help the muscadines fruit. I climbed a muscadine-laden tree and shook it, showering the floor in muscadines. It really was raining muscadines—a beautiful moment. Though our main focus for this trip was muscadine fruit, we also found plenty of other friends to learn about. On the way back from our muscadine shower, we picked up random mushrooms, adding them to our paper bag to be identified later. I am usually more cautious with others than I am with myself. While I occasionally nibble on plants here and there, I would not encourage others to follow me. I do not share my harvest unless I am completely sure it is not harmful. We actually did our first spore print with the ringless honey mushrooms; ringless honey mushrooms have white spores while a similar poisonous mushroom has black spores. The only ones we ended up identifying/eating were the chanterelles (second from left) and the ringless honey mushrooms (cluster in the middle). The other fungi I ended up keeping as mementos or giving back to the forest. Also pictured are pine needles (make a great tea).

Esther Cole-Conaway

The experience described above is one shared by many who venture into the forest: taking the time to slow down, notice the natural world, and perhaps collect something for a tasty meal. Mushrooms are one of the most recognizable foraged edibles, cherished worldwide either as a delicacy or potent medicinal. In the United States (US), wild foraging of mushrooms for personal use only requires the landowner's permission. However, the sale of wild collected mushrooms is regulated by 31 of the 50 US states (Nair 2016). Regulatory methods vary widely, relying either upon "approved wild mushroom expert" or a "licensed wild mushroom seller", yet only 10 of the 31 states had defined criteria. Five states restrict the volume of mushrooms collected, and eight require the harvester to maintain records. Eight of the ten member-states of the Southeast Division of the Association of American Geographer (SEDAAG) currently regulate sale of wild collected mushrooms; Kentucky and Mississippi seem to be the two exceptions (Nair 2016). Yet even those who live in rural areas or otherwise connect with nature may lack the cultural heritage of collecting wild foods, including mushrooms. Concerns arise from public safety to avoid poisonous mushrooms, the potential impacts of overharvesting, and whether governmental agencies should regulate mushroom foraging.

Avoidance of poisoning is a concern expressed by many wild foragers. Brandenburg and Ward (2018) compiled and analyzed mushroom poisoning reported in the US National Poison Data System (NPDS) between 1999 and 2016. They found a total of 133,700 reported cases of mushroom poisoning over the 18-year period (average of 7,428 reported cases per year). The majority (86 percent) of poisonings caused minor harm, however children and elderly were more likely to experience major harm. Among the 14 percent of cases with major harm (average of 1,039 per year), fatalities were rare with 52 fatalities during the 18-year study period (2.9/year or 0.04 percent of all reported incidences). A similar study on mushroom poisoning in China found major incidence rate of 76 percent (786 cases between 2010 and 2014 or 157.2 per year) and 21 percent mortality rate (Zhou, Yuan, Lang, Yin and Sun 2016). In Switzerland, 87 cases were reported over 11 years (7.9 cases...