Who goes foraging in Bristol, UK and why? A qualitative investigation into wild food acquisition and food justice

Abstract

In recent years, foraging for wild foods has grown in popularity in cities. Globally, urban foragers are diverse; motivations span contribution to the food basket, healthier living, and accessing urban nature. Research to date highlights ease of access across socio-demographic groups. There is little empirical evidence in the UK on how social identity intersects with the practices and meanings of foraging: who forages, what motivates them, and how are questions of equity understood? This paper takes a case study from Bristol (UK) to explore how foragers describe their motivations, their own and others social identities, and challenges of equitable access.

Data were generated from fieldwork with a foraging group and qualitative walking interviews (n = 15) in foraging locations. Qualitative thematic analysis identified three key themes; social identity, motivation and food justice.

Foraging in Bristol was framed as a lifestyle pursuit by the largely (self-identified) middle-class participants. Reported motivations centre on improving health through ‘nature cure’, exercising individual agency in food provision, and environmentalism. The rationales for foraging suggest subtle class distinctions in relation to food choices, and participants identify knowledge and experiential limitations, and sociocultural factors, as contributing to others' lack of access.

Findings contribute to the literature on urban foraging in the context of food justice. In one UK city, foraging was not primarily understood as a subsistence activity, but as a component of a particular lifestyle orientation. To improve equity of access to the subsistence benefits of foraging, better understanding of the social meanings attributed to foraging are needed.