Would you be willing to eat a plant you found just growing from the sidewalk? Professional forager Dave Odd is showing Chicagoans all the nature the city has to offer — and that we can eat it, too.
Odd is the only full-time professional forager in the city, gathering edible wild plants and mushrooms. The former stand-up comedian started selling to farmers markets in 2009 and later to 300 restaurants — including fine dining spots of chef Grant Achatz (yes the one of Alinea fame).
Today, Odd focuses on educating others on urban foraging tours across the area. Here’s what to know and how to get involved.
Someone takes notes during a foraging tour near Montrose Beach in 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar / Tribune / Getty)
Why Forage in Chicago?
Chicagoans can find up to 80 different edible plants here growing in lawns, trees, sidewalk cracks, alleys, and more, Odd said.
“If I want to show people the largest variety of edible wild plants or mushrooms, I prefer to be in the middle of a neighborhood in Chicago or the suburbs,” Odd said. The city has double the variety you’d see in a more rural area.
In Chicago, you can find an abundance of vitamin-filled edible flowers like magnolia flowers and redbuds that can be made into tea, syrups, sugar, and more. You can also find juneberries and mulberries easily.
What Should First-Time Foragers Know?
- Get a field guide like this one from Sam Thayer.
- Curate your social media feed to follow people like Midwestern forager Alexis Nikole and join local foraging Facebook groups to get better at identifying plants and mushrooms.
- Foraging in Chicago parks and county forest preserves is illegal: Practice identifying plants in parks, but collect from in-between spaces like empty lots or alleys.
- Use common sense when it comes to deciding what’s safe to consume (e.g., if it seems like a dog peed on it, don’t eat it).
Where Can You Forage With a Professional?
Odd is offering events from foraging tours to dinners in Albany Park, Oak Park, Beaverville, and more nearly every weekend this spring.
“There’s so much food out there if you know where to look,” Odd said.
