Picked up a book whilst we were at the Eden Project and thought I might tell of it. Its The Wild Life by John Lewis-Stempel.
Its the story of his choice to live for a year completely on wild food as a hunter-gatherer. Anything he can find, shoot or catch on his forty acre farm. He makes it more difficult for himself by not allowing anything cultivated and by sticking to the law, i.e. not shooting out of season. He is allowed to buy salt and honey as necessities but nothing else. Obviously not a true reflection of a hunter-gather society as he has no access to big game like deer, wild pig etc., nor does he trade for things outside his area. Also a true hunter-gatherer would travel over a much wider area, moving locations with the seasons perhaps. Even so it is a creditable notion and an interesting idea.
It's a very interesting read, well written in an engaging style. It's divided into chapters, each one a month in the year, and each chapter ends with a list of the foods he has eaten in that month. There are also various recipes scattered throughout, using the wild foods he has found.
He obviously has an awful lot of willpower as his family are eating normally while he does this.
All in all I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in wild foraging or even just a good read.
Its the story of his choice to live for a year completely on wild food as a hunter-gatherer. Anything he can find, shoot or catch on his forty acre farm. He makes it more difficult for himself by not allowing anything cultivated and by sticking to the law, i.e. not shooting out of season. He is allowed to buy salt and honey as necessities but nothing else. Obviously not a true reflection of a hunter-gather society as he has no access to big game like deer, wild pig etc., nor does he trade for things outside his area. Also a true hunter-gatherer would travel over a much wider area, moving locations with the seasons perhaps. Even so it is a creditable notion and an interesting idea.
It's a very interesting read, well written in an engaging style. It's divided into chapters, each one a month in the year, and each chapter ends with a list of the foods he has eaten in that month. There are also various recipes scattered throughout, using the wild foods he has found.
He obviously has an awful lot of willpower as his family are eating normally while he does this.
All in all I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in wild foraging or even just a good read.
