Alyosha RobillosAt the height of fast food culture, pre-cooked meals, food delivery apps, and heavily processed sustenance, social media sensation ‘Black Forager’ presents an interesting antithesis that challenges our culinary norms. Quite literally a black forager, Alexis Nikole Nelson is living proof that people can still source free food fresh from where they naturally grow — if you know where to look.
In an interview with TED Radio Hour, she explains that foraging is “a very fun way to say, I eat plants that do not belong to me” and that her social media vlog is where she teaches like-minded folk “how to do the same thing.”
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Black Forager on TikTok, YouTube, FB & IG
Image credit: Black Forager Official Instagram Page
In case you haven’t seen the magic that happens in Alexis’ vlog entries, here’s where you can follow her foraging adventures; find her on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Her accounts are treasure troves of foraging practices and easy recipes that intertwine us with the natural world, just like many — if not all — of our ancestors.
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Through her vlogs, Alexis teaches viewers how to pick ingredients from all sorts of landscapes: the woods, the beach, and even just around her neighbourhood in Columbus, Ohio. Plus points for vegans and aspiring vegetarians out there: Our favourite Black Forager is vegan, too. Most of Alexis’ recipes showcase meat alternatives, like this one where she uses a mushroom species called Chicken of the Woods to make, well, nuggets!
Follow Alexis and find out why the American chesnut is “functionally extinct.” Learn how to make cookies from wildflowers. Acquaint yourself with edible weeds that might be growing in your own backyard. These are just but morsels of the tasty and informational spread that Black Forager has in store for eager learners who come to her vlog for ‘foodspiration.’
Foraging as a catalyst for conversations on race, culture, and the environment
Image credit: Black Forager Official Facebook Page
Armed with the ecological knowledge lost in American history, as well as the courage to speak up about issues that cover race, cultural preservation, and environmental sustainability, Black Forager has somehow cooked up a storm on her platforms, where she enjoys a hefty following of more than two million! That’s two million people (and counting), captivated by the seemingly outdated practice of foraging — on very modern digital channels to boot. A true win for Alexis’ causes, if you ask us.
In many cultures, foraging is integral to survival and the way communities form a sustainable bond with nature. But with colonialism came waves of rapid development and the steady thrum of capitalism. Watch Alexis in action as she talks about the understated intricacies of food and race:
For Alexis, her parents’ outdoorsy lifestyle and love for gardening led her to the foraging practices she advocates and vlogs about at present. She recounts a lovely day where her mother tore apart wild onion grass growing in her childhood home, the scent of garlic mingling with fresh air. Little did she know her beginnings as a foraging and natural science enthusiast would root permanently in those memories.
For us digital natives, on the other hand, perhaps it would be the Black Forager who might just stir something in us — with her mini-documentaries, spontaneous at-home cooking shows, and the vocal chops to back up her urge to “sing her feelings.” You’ll get the inside joke when you start watching. Don’t say we didn’t warn you; you’ll get hooked!
