Submission Date
7-24-2015
Document Type
Paper
Department
Environmental Studies
Faculty Mentor
Patrick Hurley
Project Description
Urban foraging is the practice in which city residents gather plants and plant parts from green spaces—such as parks, sidewalks, or yards—to use for a variety of reasons. Research on the practice is in its early stages, with key questions in need of further research, including who participates, why they participate, and how they initially engage the practice. Existing research suggests most foragers consume what they gather for food, however, many also use materials for medicinal or craft-related purposes. Foraging meet-up tours appear to be a popular way for urban dwellers to learn about and engage in this practice. This summer I focused on both how these tours function to promote foraging and people’s motivations for attending them. I attended 4 meet-up tours and interviewed 15 foragers recruited from the tours about their foraging experience. In addition, I was interested to analyze how foraging meet-ups have evolved over the past two years. Thus, I looked at each individual foraging meet-up from the past two years on an urban foraging meet-up site—Wild Foodies of Philadelphia—to determine the dynamics of these tours compared to the ones I attended this summer. Using this methodology, I was able to better understand the community of practice among urban foragers in Philadelphia, This information will inform an expansion of the research to include multiple cities across the USA and even across the globe.
Recommended Citation
McGillis, Kristin G., "Urban Foraging Social Meetups in Philadelphia, PA" (2015). Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows. 1.
https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/environment_sum/1
Open Access
Available to all.
Comments
Presented during the 17th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 24, 2015 at Ursinus College.