I’ve “hunted” for truffles twice now—but only recently realized that this categorically falls into the realm of foraging.
On a trip to Tuscany and Piedmont last fall, I began by meticulously scouting my surroundings, paying attention to the slight give of damp earth beneath my boots; these patches hidden by fallen leaves suggesting a likely location for the prized fungi to be growing underground. I carefully took over digging where the trained truffle dogs began an erratic excavation after catching a whiff of their earthy aroma. I used both my fingers and a hooked tool to delicately carve around the bulging black summer truffle, ensuring not to break it in half (a loss in both the short term as it affects the truffle’s weight, and the long term as leftover crumbs will entice another dog to dig up the prime breeding ground, ultimately disturbing future growth).
This, it turns out, is foraging—or “a wide search over an area in order to obtain something, especially food or provisions,” as Oxford Languages defines it. The practice dates back nearly 200,000 years: about as long as humans have lived, as it comprised the inherent hunter-gatherer lifestyle. It was only about 500 years ago that this was disrupted as a result of agricultural evolution (farming, domesticated animals) and eventually, the convenience of grocery stores. In the last five years, however, the pendulum has swung back, as a growing interest in self-sufficiency (exacerbated by the pandemic and climate change) and conscious consumption has prompted a foraging renaissance.
Within the world of travel, too, there’s been a surge of interest in foraging, as hotels and restaurants have introduced foraging-specific programs or experiences for guests to reconnect with nature—and acquire elements of a meal to savor later.
“There’s a growing awareness of and appreciation for hyper-local, seasonal, and wild ingredients. People want to know where their food comes from and experience flavors that are unique to a particular place and time,” shares Kirsten Dixon, co-founder of Within The Wild, an Alaskan adventure company that owns three family-owned properties, including Tutka Bay Lodge. It’s here that Dixon’s witnessed a particular uptick in guests’ desire to forage—a steady growth year on year, she notes—even though she’s been practicing foraging her entire life.
“While foraging may seem trendy now, Alaskans have been doing it forever,” adds Dixon. “The ability to identify and harvest wild foods is a timeless skill that cultures around the world have practiced for millennia.” Tutka Bay Lodge’s unique positioning allows both coastal and forest foraging, where guests may collect beach greens, oyster plant, arrowgrass, beach peas, and sea lettuce before moving inland to find fiddlehead ferns, sweet woodruff, porcini and yellow mushrooms, spruce tips, as well as a host of edible flowers and wild berries. All hyper-seasonal, the team lets the time of year and landscape dictate the harvest, “rather than going out with a predetermined shopping list,” advises Dixon. The foraging experience concludes in the kitchen where guests learn to prepare a dish using the found ingredients.
“Foraging gives people an outlet to literally consume the wild and feel the power of the natural world,” shares Will Conway, farm director of Wildflower Farms, Auberge Resorts Collection; the property in Gardiner, New York has offered foraging since opening in 2022. Further south, in Franklin, Tenn., Southall Farm Inn also debuted with foraging as a flagship experience; guests can sign up for a two-hour forage for wild ramps, mushrooms, wildflowers, and berries that aren’t just used in their seed-to-fork restaurant, but also in the spa as botanical products and health elixirs.
Hop north across Tennessee’s bordering state of Virginia, and Nicewonder Farm Vineyards in Bristol is launching its first foraging experience this summer. “With Appalachian cuisine relying so heavily on the local bounty, we see an interest from guests in learning more about where their food comes from,” says Mara Bouvier, the resort’s general manager, about creating this experience to foster further exploration. The program will continue into fall and pick back up next spring, says Bouvier, noting these seasons are undoubtedly the best for foraging but the summer presents a unique opportunity to focus on invasive species. Edible, non-native plants include kudzu, chickweed, wild violets, pineapple weed, Japanese knotweed, dandelion greens, and wild parsnip that are prepared in tea, beverages, and salads. “Harvesting non-native plants, when done correctly, can aid in the comeback of the native ecosystem which is often out-competed by these vigorous introduced species,” says Bouvier on the subsequent benefit of foraging invasives.
Meanwhile, in northern Scotland, reserve manager at Alladale Wilderness Reserve Innes MacNeil says their guests have always liked to know where their food is coming from. The increasing interest in foraging has added another dimension to their mission of “getting people out into wild spaces and connecting [them] with nature.”
In southwestern France, foraging is “an integral part of the culinary culture,” says Jean-François Magnan, estate manager at Domaine Des Etangs, Auberge Resorts Collection. Here, guests can forage mushrooms in the summer, chestnuts in the fall as well as aromatic herbs, edible flowers, and fruits year-round. “It’s about engaging all the senses: feeling the texture of a vegetable, inhaling the aroma of an herb, savoring the taste of an edible flower, or hunting for mushrooms on the forest floor,” adds Magnan.
In Cape Town, The Table Bay labels their foraging experience as experiential dining, while Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge and Fogo Island Inn, both remote islands in Canada, have long provided opportunities for guests to source their own foods. In some countries, there are even full-fledged operations dedicated to foraging, like Eat New Zealand’s day-long Forage and Feast in Wanaka.
“Eco-responsibility is firmly planted in travelers’ minds now, and everyone is finding a way to contribute,” Magnan points out. Foraging checks all the boxes and more: embracing local sourcing, shortening the food supply chain, celebrating life’s simple pleasures, and reminding humans of our symbiotic relationship with nature—practice reciprocity, and don’t take more than you need.
As long as nature continues to tantalize travelers with its magic, even providing them with a new skill they can apply back at home, Enza DePalma, senior manager of Experiences at Wildflower Farms, predicts that foraging’s correlation to clean eating and unprocessed nourishment will keep it relevant. As she puts it: “I see this as a shift rather than a trend.”