A Journey through West Los Angeles
By Cara Deptula
Upset stomach? Anxiety? Inflammation? West Los Angeles is full of wild edible plants that can help alleviate these ailments and so much more.
During one of my afternoon walks around the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus, I spotted an abundance of mallow plants. The mallow, with its succulent green leaves, tall spikes, and deep purple flowers, was easy to identify and reminded me of my time on the east coast when one of my hobbies was foraging for wild edibles.
The curiosities inside of me started to bloom again and I began to notice other wild edible plants while strolling the vast 388-acre campus. It turns out this land contains a treasure trove of plants that can be used for medicinal purposes or can provide interesting textures and a rich tapestry of flavors to meals.
"Foraging is ever-changing. Every season and each location holds different opportunities to experience foods that you can’t buy that in any store.” said Jess Starwood, expert forager and author of Mushroom Wanderland: A Forager’s Guide to Finding, Identifying, and Using More Than 25 Wild Fungi. Better yet, familiar plants like lavender, spearmint, rosemary also do much more than add flavor. They provide a plethora of health benefits.
Veteran Jennifer Dotson realized the power of wild edible plants and their potential to improve one's health after she was discharged from the Navy in 2009. Dotson was suffering from fibromyalgia, so her doctors prescribed her medication to help dull the pain. But soon after starting her regimen she began experiencing negative side effects.
"Being on downers and having three kids just does not work,” Dotson said. “I didn’t have the energy to take care of them.”
Dotson took the initiative with her health and began using wild edible plants, including purslane, which contains all the omega-3s, is high in vitamins C and A, and is known to have an amplified anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Like purslane, many wild edible plants are considered superfoods (foods that offer maximum nutritional benefits for minimal calories and are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants).
“The superfoods rebuilt my body from the ground up. Now I don’t suffer from inflammation, and it was inflammation that was creating all my other ailments,” Dotson said.
Dotson’s healing journey motivated her to create an online community of foragers that has grown quickly to 123,000 members called Edible info: Wild Edible Plants and Foraging, and a YouTube channel with a plethora of information about plants, recipes, and healing remedies. Dotson hopes that more people can discover the natural healing properties of wild edible plants and incorporate them into their diet to improve their overall health.
Foraging is gaining in popularity. With extensive information about wild edible plants on the internet, and smartphone applications that quickly identify plants by simply snapping a picture of them, it is easier than ever before to find plant knowledge.
“Social media has brought information about foraging back that has been lost over the last 100 years,” said Starwood.
Social media has also made connecting to other foragers more accessible. Foraging allows people to eat seasonally and enjoy food that is fresh, natural, free, and bursting with nutrients.
“With foraging or things you grow yourself, you know they will be free of pesticides and herbicides,” Dotson said.
People are thirsty for deepening their connection to nature.
“They think the concept of eating flowers is pretty and cool. Plus, flowers speak to our inner human nature - especially since we are so inundated with technology,” said Starwood.
Foraging is an enjoyable way to spend time outside, get exercise, catch some rays, connect with nature, dig in the dirt, and relieve stress. It reminds people to branch out and get creative with their diet.
Wild edible plants give the normal boring daily meal a savory and delicious twist of fun. With every season and bloom, there is something new to learn. According to a Harvard study, there are “roughly 350,000 plant species on earth that have been named.”
According to a study in the American Indian Quarterly, “Wild edibles tend to contain more beneficial nutrients like vitamins and minerals on a per-weight basis than cultivated foods.” Modern cultivated foods have been genetically modified over time, and they have also been growing on soil that has become depleted of micronutrients over time.
“Every wild edible plant has vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that you won’t find in store bought foods,” said Dotson.
The Covid pandemic sparked a fear-based curiosity in people around the concept of food. “Foraging has absolutely grown since covid. Everyone started thinking about food differently because they had never seen an empty shelf at the grocery store,” said Starwood.
So exactly what edible plants are on campus and how can they be used?
Part 2 of Wild Edible plants:
Have a lovely day,
Cara Deptula
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