BreakAwayAdventure - Finding Edible Plants in the Wild

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Good Eats
I spent a large portion of my youth running around the wilderness on two continents with friends. On one such
outing, a friend and I debated the potential survival benefits of eating various local plants. I remember one plant
in particular which my friend and I both decided would probably be safe to eat in a survival situation because it
"looked" harmless enough. Stuffed on candy, we didn't bother to test our theory.

Older, wiser and far more experienced, I now know how fortunate we were. I now know with near certainty
that the plant we were considering for a meal was Conium maculatum - Poison Hemlock. Things could have
ended very poorly for us.

So how do you know what plants you can and can't eat? First and foremost, research ahead. I won't sugar coat
this… eating plants in the wild can be dangerous. Unfortunately, while your body can go a long time without
food (conditions and activity make this a moving target) there could come a time when eating the local flora
might make the difference between life and death. At the very least, a good supply of edible plants can certainly
make a survival situation far more comfortable than not. Spare yourself the uncertainty and unpleasantness of
testing and study the local flora in advance. KNOW what you can eat and avoid everything else.

If you find yourself in a survival situation with no advance knowledge of the local plant life, you must test. This is
a painstakingly slow process but it must be followed. Skipping any step could leave you writhing on the ground
in agony or feeding the local fungi with your corpse.

1) Identify an abundant plant. The length of the testing process makes this pointless if you
don't have enough of the plant on hand to chow down on.
2) Consider each part of the plant as a separate entity requiring its own test. On some plants,
the leaves may be edible but the roots poisonous. Don't assume that one part passing the test
means all parts are edible. Plants should be broken down into roots, stems, leaves, buds,
flowers and berries. Again, use the abundance criteria here. If there are a lot of a type of
plant available and a lot of leaves on that plant, test only the leaves at first. Also choose
healthy plants. Avoid rotting or bug-infested plants and three-leafed plants such as poison
ivy.
3) Smell the plant parts. Avoid anything that smells like almonds or acid. Also avoid anything
that oozes a milky substance. These are not certain indicators of toxicity, but far too often
imply the plant is not edible so best to avoid them entirely.
4) Next rub the plant against a sensitive part of your skin (not your lips) such as the inside of
your elbow or behind your knee. Make sure to rub it in good so that the juices get on your
skin. If you have no immediate reaction, hold the plant against that part of your skin for
10-20 minutes. Now wait for at least 8 hours. If you do not have a reaction, move on to the
next test.
5) Prepare the plant part as you plan to eat it (raw, boiled, etc.) Touch a small part of the
plant against your lip for three minutes. If you do not experience burning, stinging, tingling,
itching or other discomfort, move on to the next test.
6) Place another portion on your tongue and leave it there. DO NOT CHEW OR
SWALLOW. If you experience no adverse symptoms after 15 minutes, chew the piece well
and hold it in your mouth for another 15 minutes. Again, DO NOT SWALLOW. Assuming
you've still experienced no adverse symptoms, swallow the piece. Adverse symptoms consist
of burning, itching, numbness, swelling, tingling or stinging.
7) Wait 8 hours. If all is well after 8 hours, eat a small portion of the plant. Not a meal, just a
very light snack portion of less than a ½ cup and wait another 8 hours. If you still feel fine,
you can assume the part of the plant you have been testing is ok to eat. If you experience any
ill effects at any point after ingesting the plant, immediately induce vomiting and consume as
much water as you can.