Actually I would have to disagree with you there, most cities don't have edible and useful plants of any significance. And the towns and cities that do would be subject to seasonal variation. i.e. they would be only available during a 1-2 months during the year. Its tough enough finding edible food in the wilderness let alone a large tract of land covered in motorways, high rise buildings, high density housing and industrial sites. Many cities do not even have any large parkland areas and recreational areas offering wooded areas of any size large enough for even 1 person to find enough wild food to last even a few days even during those couple of favourable months of the year. Even good agricultural land using modern industrial farming methods is quite barren of wild edibles unless the famer has set aside land strips around the field specifically for wildlife i.e. hedgerows

If survival in the urban area required the aquisition of high energy nutrious food then searching out wild edibles would be way down on the activities list, whereas supermarket and domestic bin raking skills during the night would be much more productive in the urban survival setting. If food was in such short supply then hunting urban wild life such as pigeons, squirrels etc taken using an air gun or sling shot would be next on the activities list. At this point in time a serious effort would be needed to get out of dodge. Urban survival would most likely require 'Hobo' thinking rather than any 'Ray Mears wild foods' thinking.

I think the last 2 post make great points. If the survival scenario is personal as opposed to corporate (i.e., I'm SOL but everyone else is fine), then the urban survival skills required are those employed by the very poor and homeless today.

A bigger part of survival may include the change in mindset from absolute self reliance to asking for some help (friends & family, church programs, food banks, etc).

In assembling our urban survival strategies, my only small point is that edible plant foraging should not be forgotten.

If you are separated from other sources of food by conditions, bigger looters, etcetera, then it would be helpful to be able to survive anyway.

Even the inner bark of certain trees may be able to get you by until the next dumpster comes along.

If this idea is low on your priority list, then by all means work on the higher priority stuff first.

Very good point. I live near a 580+ acre park in Brooklyn that could provide an abundance of food. Plus, the city makes it easy to take advantage of this skill, to anyone who wants to take the time.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Public%20Tour%20Stuff/Tour%20Announcements/Prospect.11.22.09.html

OK, let me throw a hypothetical at the Kmart shoppers.

If you were hungry and you saw an apple tree loaded with ripe apples, even windfall apples on the ground, would you eat some?
If you were facing a food shortage in your house would you fill your pockets with them and give some to your wife?
Would you get a shopping cart and load it up with them so you could feed your family and the neighbour too?
What about a landscaping planter that the city parks department had full of ornamental kale?

Are wild and wasteland plants seasonal?
Yes, you bet they are, and opportunistic too.

You are not going to find greens in the middle of a parking lot or in the middle of winter. If you open your eyes and go for walks you will start to see much more than you expect though.

As for the complaint about identifying them being hard, well get a good book on plants and take a senior citizen out for a stroll.

One last hint, most of the plants you will find interesting as food plants inside cities are cultivated plants or escapees from cultivation, and your worst competitors for them are squirrels, racoons and birds.

Hi Blast,

Thanks for the clarification. I was just getting visions of people coming home and finding their tomato plants stripped or of people shooting the geese that hang out at the local golf course.

Thanks,
LW

P.S. Sorry, wasn't trying to be the Sheriff ......well, maybe a Barney Fife kind of deputy.

[quote] P.S. Sorry, wasn't trying to be the Sheriff ......well, maybe a Barney Fife kind of deputy. /quote]


-Blast

The maclura pomifera is a deciduous tree. Its fruit, commonly referred to as "horse apples" here in Texas, is also poisonous. Growing up in Dallas County, where they are plentiful, I heard many times, on school play grounds, that they are poisonous.

Jeanette Isabelle

If it comes to that then you need to visit your local food pantry. Better yet, if you want more than the box of food they hand out each month per household, volunteer at the food pantry. There is almost no limit as to what volunteers are allowed to take for their household.

Jeanette Isabelle

Plus one on the volunteering Jeanette.
One of my aunts used to volunteer until she became fed up with how much food they were wasting out of laziness.
I can remember here with a van full of sacks of potatoes.
She had picked them up from a food shippers warehouse. The food bank personnel were unwilling to help her unload them or to re-bag them into smaller bags.
She had the same problem with other bulk goods and with fresh produce.

I would also recommend planting edible landscaping just because we can.
I have started to plant Nanking Cherries everywhere possible.