Northeast Foraging

February 1, 2014

Ethnobotanist Meredith (The Locavore's Handbook: The Busy Person's Guide to Eating Local) is your guide to nature's bounty in the Northeast, defined here as running from Quebec down through Maryland. She begins with an introduction to foraging, including benefits, ethics, and sustainable practices, and follows with a season-by-season guide to foraging subdivided by habitat (meadows, woodlands, etc.). The bulk of the book are the profiles (alphabetical by common name) of over 100 wild and naturalized edible plants, including fruits, nuts, berries, greens, flowers, and roots. Each entry includes information on how to identify, gather, eat, and preserve the plant, plus at least one lovely full-color photo, tips for harvesting sustainably, and warnings about any toxic parts or look-alike plants. While Meredith's detailed descriptions will aid identification, the book would have been more helpful if it included photographs emphasizing distinguishing characteristics. The attractive images included do not show enough detail to facilitate positive identification. (This is a problem found in most foraging books.) Meredith mentions medicinal as well as culinary uses where applicable but with little detail. Readers interested in the medicinal properties of plants should consult a guide specific to that topic. VERDICT This manual is recommended, in spite of the above lack, for anyone in the Northeast who is interested in expanding their culinary horizons through foraging.--Janet Crum, Northern Arizona Univ. Lib., Flagstaff

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.