HOW GOOD ARE WILD FOODS

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CAUTION: The listing of a plant in this article doesn't necessarily mean that it Is edible under all circumstances. Readers should inform themselves fully (by crossreferencing with a good field guide) as to any wild food's safety before consuming it, since frequently a plant may be poisonous at one stage in its development and edible at another ... or—as with domestic rhubarb and potatoes—one part of the species may be edible, while other sections are poisonous.

In order to get some overview of the various nutrients covered in the list, I'd like to "spotlight" a sampling of plants and nutritional categories. Let's begin by discussing the foods that provide the most calories. Most folks have no trouble consuming enough starches, sugars, and fats for their energy needs (on the contrary, such elements are in oversupply in the average North American's diet), but—among the wild edibles—only nuts, seeds, tubers, and a few fruits provide such "energy to burn" in significant amounts. Most wild foods have less than a gram of fat per 100 grams, and they're often low—usually containing only several grams—in carbohydrates as well ... which means you can fill up on many wildlings without putting on weight.

Most of us also get enough protein in our diets ... from meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products. However, if you're a vegetarian or want to supply part of your minimum daily need (50 grams of protein) from vegetable sources, the following plants will provide five or more grams of protein for each 100 grams (about 3-1/4 ounces) consumed:

NATURE'S NUTRIENTS

Wild foods can also play an important role in satisfying your body's daily vitamin and mineral requirements. For example, the average man or woman needs a minimum of 800 to 1,200 milligrams (mg.) of calcium— the body's most abundant mineral—every day. Here's how a few wild plants stack up in comparison with milk (the most commonly mentioned calcium source) in milligrams per 100 grams of food:

Iron is usually obtained from meats, shellfish, and whole grains. Adult men need 10 mg. of this mineral daily, women 18 mg., and children 15 mg. Here's a sampling of wild foods and the amounts of iron they offer per 100 grams as compared to beef liver, one of the best "supermarket" sources:

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