Today on Mushroom Hour we are excited to chat with internationally renowned wild foods expert, author, and public speaker Miles Irving. Miles has worked with some of the world's best chefs and has been a pioneer in the Wild Food Renaissance. In 2009, he authored The Forager Handbook, hailed by many as the 'foraging bible'. Through communicating with people around the world and delving deep into the environmental - and emotional - issues facing us, he has sought to bring together traditional ecological knowledge and those hungry for land-based connection, community, and culture. Reconnecting with the life-giving wild land which has long sustained us is key. There is not only a way forward but a wildly different way of looking at the world.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Exploring Nature with Father & Grandfather   
• Connection with Nature Starts with 1 Species   
• Become a Recovering Weirdo   
• Activating Powers of Observation & Pattern Recognition   
• The Forager Handbook   
• Pulling Down the Neoliberal Regime   
• Greenwashing   
• Guiding a Lost Society Back to Nature   
• Going Deeper into Ecology through Wild Foods   
• Traditional Ecological Knowledge   
• Common Edible Plants   
• Nettle and The Umami Equation   
• Working with Acorn Flour   
• Porcini’s GABA-induced Happiness?   

EPISODE RESOURCES:    

• World Wild Website: https://www.worldwild.org.uk/   
• Goldcrest (bird species): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldcrest   
• Mark Lewis (inspiration): https://prn.live/its-all-about-food-mark-lewis-chmachyakyakya-8000-year-crops-07-26-16/   
• Chamaenerion angustifolium (AKA Fireweed): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaenerion_angustifolium   
• Braiding Sweetgrass: https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass   
• The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-wild-wisdom-of-weeds/   
• Tending the Wild: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520280434/tending-the-wild   
• Dark Emu: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21401526-dark-emu   
• Boletus edulis (AKA Porcini): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus_edulis