A little caveat; my other half was homeless for quite some time before I met him. I became close to the group of fellow street urchins that had helped him to survive, taught him how to get by and kept him out of trouble. They were so protective over him (youngest of the group). So, obviously, I have quite a lot of sympathy for the needs of homeless people.
The other day I was picking up a few essentials in the supermarket, and a clearly homeless man came to me and asked for advice regarding which of the more stomach-filling things in that aisle could be eaten without cooking. He didn't know that a makeshift cooking pot could be made from so many things, so didn't think he'd be able to cook anything.
It occurred to me that knowledge on some basic foraging; about edible wild greens, berries, etc, could really help homeless people. Now, ideally they would be getting access to food in shelters, but I know all too well that more often than not this simply isn't possible. I have far too many friends who survived at some point in their lives by sorting through bins.
The biggest issue is access to some sort of venue for teaching this stuff to homeless people, and getting together people with the right sort of knowledge to share the information wisely and safely.
Do you think efforts in this sort of area would be effective or helful at all? I'm not hugely experienced or knowledgeable WRT foraging and bushcrft- very much a beginner- so wasn't sure if there would be any particular pitfalls or restrictions that might make it impractical?
The other day I was picking up a few essentials in the supermarket, and a clearly homeless man came to me and asked for advice regarding which of the more stomach-filling things in that aisle could be eaten without cooking. He didn't know that a makeshift cooking pot could be made from so many things, so didn't think he'd be able to cook anything.
It occurred to me that knowledge on some basic foraging; about edible wild greens, berries, etc, could really help homeless people. Now, ideally they would be getting access to food in shelters, but I know all too well that more often than not this simply isn't possible. I have far too many friends who survived at some point in their lives by sorting through bins.
The biggest issue is access to some sort of venue for teaching this stuff to homeless people, and getting together people with the right sort of knowledge to share the information wisely and safely.
Do you think efforts in this sort of area would be effective or helful at all? I'm not hugely experienced or knowledgeable WRT foraging and bushcrft- very much a beginner- so wasn't sure if there would be any particular pitfalls or restrictions that might make it impractical?