Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Who knew?? Apparently Central Park has all the fixings for a good salad! And to think that I’ve been wasting my time in line at the supermarket…

The New York Times has a great story on the increase in foraging for edible plants and berries taking place in Central Park and other public lands throughout the city. Of course, park official’s are reminding residents that those lands are not “communal pantries.”

“If people decide that they want to make their salads out of our plants, then we’re not going to have any chipmunks,” said Maria Hernandez, director of horticulture for the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit group that manages Central Park.

According to the Times, the city has recently stepped up training of park rangers and enforcement-patrol officers, directing them to keep an eye out for foragers and chase them off. Collecting or destroying plants in the city’s parks has long carried fines as high as $250, but the city has preferred education to enforcement.

Some people say that foraging is actually a good thing for the environment. The Times quotes Leda Meredith, author of The Locavore’s Handbook: The Busy Person’s Guide to Eating Local on a Budget, as saying “You’re almost doing the ecosystem in the park a favor by harvesting them… Japanese knotweed is very invasive, and it’s in season in April.” She added that it can be used like rhubarb.

Click through for the full-story — it’s a relatively quick read.

Unfortunately for me, my greens of choice are spinach and endives, which I’m pretty sure don’t grow on the Great Lawn. Looks like it’s back to Trader Joe’s…

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Tags: Central Park, eating Central Park, foraging, Foraging in Central Park, New York City, NYC, Upper West Side, UWS