Foraging 100% of My Food for a Year
Foraging 100% of My Food for a Year
Earth Provides Us with Everything We Need Tour
December 2nd – Bad River Tribe
Hosted by Bad River Food Sovereignty at Housing Authority Gathering Room — 5:30-7:30 PM
75860 Highway 2, Odanah, WI 54861
December 3rd – Madison, Wisconsin
Four Winds Farm Fitchburg — 6:00-8:30 PM
5735 Adams Road Fitchburg, WI 53575
Event Details and Registration here
December 5th – Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Hosted by University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Office of Sustainability — 6:00-8:00 PM
Dreyfus University Center Theatre – 1015 Reserve St, Stevens Point, WI 54481
Event details and registration here
December 6th – Green Bay, Wisconsin
Hosted by Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin and Inspired North at The Tarlton Theatre — 12:00-3:00 PM
12 PM Visit community groups/tables — 1 PM Robin speaks
Event details and registration here
409 W Walnut St, Green Bay, WI 54303
December 8th – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee Public Library Central Branch — 5:30-7:00 PM
814 W. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53233
Event details here
December 9th – Blanchardville, Wisconsin
Blanchardville Public Library — 1:00-2:30 PM
208 Mason St. Blanchardville, WI 53516
Event details here
December 9th – Wonewoc, Wisconsin
Hosted by Singing Twig Farm at the American Legion Hall — 6:00-8:00 PM
108 Center St, Wonewoc, WI 53968
December 10th – La Crosse, Wisconsin
Hosted by Larson’s General – 6:00-8:00 PM
509 Main Street, La Crosse, WI 54601
December 11th – Faribault, Minnesota
Hosted by Organic Compound — 6:00-8:00 PM
18125 Eiler Ave, Faribault, MN 55021
December 12th – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hosted by Minnesota Mycological Society and Minnesota Foraging Alliance at University of Minnesota – St. Paul Campus Borlaug Hall — 6:30-9 PM
Event details and registration here.
1991 Upper Buford Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
December 13th – Chaska, Minnesota
Holiday Forest Fair — Robin will be the final speaker at ~4:00 PM
Mustard Seed Garden Center 10000 Great Plains Blvd Chaska, MN 55318
December 14th – Duluth, Minnesota
Ren Market – Meet and greet and book signing — 4:30-6:00 PM
1918 W Superior St, Duluth, MN 55806
Bring Me to Your Community and Spread the Word!
Would you like me to give a talk or lead a plant walk in your community? Or would you like to know if I come to your region?
If so, we welcome you to fill out this form and learn more about hosting an event here.
Would you like to spread the word about the event in your community? If so, we’ve shared how you can help here.
About My Year of Foraging
Seven years ago I embarked on one of the deepest explorations of my life, to grow and forage 100% of my food for a year. In Orlando, Florida, I transformed front yards into gardens where I grew a wide diversity of foods and medicines. I also learned to forage many of the gifts that Earth freely and abundantly provides. I completed the year in exceptional health and high spirits, with the deep experiential knowing that Earth can provide me with all of my needs. It took real work, but I saw that I could break free from the global, industrial food system that is destroying the world I so deeply love.
It’s now time to embark on a new exploration to continue deepening my relationship to the land and the plants and animals we share this home with. To fall more deeply in love with Earth and show this love through every handful I harvest and every bite I take. To play my role as a teacher on this path for others, showing another way is possible from the status quo. To do it all as a peaceful act of resistance to systems of destruction. As Alice Waters said of my recent endeavor, “It is a provocative public experiment that reveals what is possible if we reimagine our relationship with food.”
This time I will have no garden. Nature will be my garden. For one year, I will harvest and eat solely the food and medicine growing freely and abundantly all around us.
My diet will consist of foods you’ve never heard of — wapato, lotus nuts and nannyberries; foods we’ve stepped on and over without knowing they were food — acorns, black walnuts and many mushrooms; foods that we’ve been taught were poisonous or a nuisance and have learned to hate like burdock, stinging nettle, thistles and “weeds” growing in the lawn; and, of course, many of the wild foods that are beloved by millions like apples, berries, wild onions, fish, venison and wild rice (the REAL wild rice).
Not only will nature provide me with every calorie, every gram of fat and protein, every grain of salt, every drop of oil and every sweet morsel, but nature will also provide me with all the herbs and spices. Can I make a truly tasty meal — make that 365 breakfasts, lunches and dinners — without a domesticated ingredient? It certainly won’t kill me to give it a try.
No medicine will come from the store, farm or garden either. I will harvest dozens of wild plants for medicinal herbal teas from elderberry syrup to medicinal mushroom teas to sweet fern, goldenrod and echinacea. This will be the ultimate test of the philosophy, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Throughout, I will be leading classes, hosting Foraging Schools, educating via writing and videos and sharing the message through the media.
Some would ask, “How is this relevant to our current political crises and the times that we live in?” To this I’ll gently respond that the fact the relevance is not seen in itself demonstrates that the dominator society has already had their way with our minds. Mega-corporations, corrupted political systems and co-opted societal structures have worked since long before we were born to fragment us from the source of life. We have been taught to be consumers, dependent upon their systems of exploitation, oppression and destruction. We have been taught that we are separate from this Earth and that its destruction and demise is acceptable and normal. They have packaged it all as “progress.” The truth is that the way we are living today is destroying the only home we have and injustice and inequity is built into our entire food system and most of our daily actions.
The last thing an oligarchy or an authoritarian government wants is people and communities who can take care of themselves. Who have deep relationships with the plants and animals. Who look out their window and love what they see, rather than fear or despise it. Who see the Earth as a living being that they are part of. Who think critically about their actions and how they impact everything around them. Who are willing to do what it takes to be the change they wish to see in the world.
We need massive systems change, and my belief is that we’ll only get that when we change the systems within our minds, our bodies, our relationships and our communities. We will continue to destroy Earth as long as we focus solely on the vote and the protest. Harmony and peace must start within, through our daily actions and our relationships. When we realize that the Earth is our home, not our enemy, and that we don’t need to fear our many relatives, that’s true power!
I want to live in harmony with Earth, and this year-long immersion is part of my continued exploration of this possibility in the challenging and complex times we live in. I want to dissolve the illusion of separateness and feel truly at home on Earth and with the plants and animals we share this home with. I want to be a part of the community of humanity and play a role in helping others find a true home here too.
When and Where
To start this endeavor, I’ve settled into my homeland of Northern Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior. I’ve given myself three months of preparation time. I started from scratch on July 1st and the year will officially begin on October 9th, 2025. I’ll be based here during my preparation time and for much of the year.
In the fall, I’ll embark on a month-long East coast foraging and speaking tour. In the winter, I’ll visit Florida and some of the Southern states. In Spring 2026 I may make a trip to the West coast. In the summer/fall of 2026, I’ll likely do another tour through the Midwest and Northeast. Everywhere I go, I’ll be foraging and teaching.
One Million Community Fruit Tree Initiative
Over the next ten years, I will be planting one million fruit and nut trees through a grassroots collaborative effort of thousands of friends and colleagues across the nation. We have planted 2,000 Community Fruit Trees since 2018 and our limiting factor has been the cost of purchasing trees. We will now be growing our own trees through starting 100 local micro-nurseries that can each produce about 1,000 trees per year.
Interested in getting involved? Learn more here.
What is My Call to Action?
Get to know your neighbors — all of them — the plants and animals, too.
Overcome hatred with love. We love what we know. We hate what we don’t understand.
Form a relationship with Mother Earth, who we depend upon for everything we need.
Let the destructive corporations know you don’t need them by actually not needing them anymore. Build the skills to topple the oligarchy and the increasingly authoritarian government. Stand up from a place of power. Learn to live in reciprocity.
Relationships with the plants change us. Millions have learned this through Braiding Sweetgrass and the wisdom of Robin Wall Kimmerer. Now it’s time for me to put down the books and get out foraging. Will you join me?
Ready to Start Foraging?
Visit our Foraging Guide for Beginners, an extensive resource to help you start foraging or to take your foraging to the next level.
Read: Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100% of My Food. This book is accessible to all, available in paperback or as an eBook, on a donation basis (no donation required). Food Freedom is an empowerment manual for liberation through food.
Find a Forager near you through our online database of over 500 foragers. Taking a class with an experienced forager is one of the most effective ways to learn the foods and medicines that are growing all around you and to build your community.
Foraging Schools and Foraging Walks
Join us at Foraging School!
Foraging Schools are weekend-long immersions where we’ll learn foraging, enjoy foraged foods and connect to Earth and community. Foraging School is accessible to people with all levels of experience, even those who’ve never foraged a single bite of food. If you are looking for an entry into foraging or to deepen your practice, this is an ideal opportunity among new friends.
Florida January 30th-February 1st, 2026
Duluth, MN Day School: August 2nd, 2025
Minneapolis, MN area Weekend Immersion: August 8th-10th, 2025
Madison, WI area Weekend Immersion: August 15th-17th, 2025
Ashland, WI Weekend Immersion: August 22nd-24th, 2025
Learn More About Foraging School and Register Here
Foraging Walks in Ashland, Wisconsin
I’m hosting Foraging Walks as part of the Wild Bay Foraging Club in my hometown twice per month, June through October. The walks take place on the second Tuesday and fourth Sunday.
Learn More About the Foraging Club Here
Apprentice/Volunteers
I am seeking an apprentice and volunteers to join me in foraging. Volunteers will deepen their foraging knowledge and skills as they help me on this mission. For those interested, learn more here.
The Foraging Book!
I am writing a book on this year-long foraging endeavor, expected to release in 2027. If you’d like to receive an occasional email with updates on the book or just notification when it is ready to order, fill out this form and sign up for my newsletter.
Ready to get reading now? If so, read: Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100% of My Food
Earth Provides Us with Everything We Need Tour – Past Events
October 9th – Portland, Maine
Foraging Walk at Deering Oaks Park – 4:00-6:00 PM
61 Park Ave, Portland, ME 04101. Meet at the pavilion on the north side of the pond.
October 11th – Boston, Massachusetts
Hosted by Boston Food Forest Coalition at Boston Nature Center – 3:00-5:00 PM
500 Walk Hill St, Mattapan, MA 02126. Meet near the entrance of the Nature Center.
October 12th – Providence, Rhode Island
Updated location due to rain: 168 Wentworth Ave, Cranston, RI 02905 – 3:00-5:00 PM. This will be an indoor talk and community gathering.
Foraging Walk at Roger Williams Park – 3:00-5:00 PM
1 Floral Ave, Providence, RI 02905. Meet in the lawn on the south side of the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center.
October 13th – New Haven, Connecticut
Hosted by Gather New Haven, Liberated Land Cooperative, African American Society – 4:00-6:00 PM
Gather New Haven – 495 Blake Street, UNIT C New Haven, CT 06515
October 16th – New York City, New York
UNICEF with The New York Staff Association Green Team with an invitation to all UNICEF staff.
Watch the recorded talk here.
October 16th – New York City, New York
Foraging Walk at Prospect Park – 4:00-6:00 PM
101 East Dr, Brooklyn, NY 11225. Meet at Prospect Park Boathouse
October 17th – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Foraging Walk at The Discovery Center – 4:00-6:00 PM
3401 Reservoir Dr, Philadelphia, PA 19121
October 18th – Baltimore, Maryland
Foraging Walk at Druid Hill Park – 3:00-5:00 PM
3100 Swann Dr, Baltimore, MD 21217. Meet at the Rawlings Conservatory Outdoor Gardens
October 19th – Knoxville, Maryland
Foraging Walk with Eric Joseph Lewis and Robin – 3:00-6:00 PM
Frederick Municipal Forest – 10420 Hamburg Rd, Frederick, MD 21702
October 21st – Takoma Park, Maryland
Hosted by the City of Takoma Park – 7:00-8:30 PM
Takoma Park Community Center Auditorium – 7500 Maple Avenue Takoma Park, MD 20912
October 23rd – Washington, D.C. (Bowie, MD)
Hosted by AfroForagers, Farm – Forage – Feast, Forested and Nature’s Love and Wisdom – 4:00-6:00 PM
Forested – Map and parking instructions here. Event details and registration here (Event is full, but you are still welcome to come. Send an email here to register).
October 24th – Richmond, Virginia
Hosted by Fonticello Food Forest and House of Lukaya – 5:30-7:00 PM
2713 Bainbridge St, Richmond, VA 23225
October 25th – Chickahominy Indian Tribe – Eastern Division
Robin will be taking part in the Food Forest Fall Workshop and will give a short talk to close out the day. All are welcome to attend the Workshop. Registration is required here.
October 26th – Rutland, Ohio
Hosted by United Plant Savers – 3:00-7:30 PM
2:00 Arrival and Connect with Earth – 3:00 Foraging Walk – 5:00 Presentation by Robin – 6:30 Potluck
35703 Loop Rd, Rutland, OH 45775
October 28th – Columbus, Ohio
Hosted by Portia’s Cafe and Shaakira Case – 6:00-8:00 PM
4428 Indianola Ave, Columbus, OH 43214
October 29th – Cincinnati, Ohio
Hosted by Cincinnati Library – 5:30-7:00 PM
800 Vine Street Cincinnati OH 45202
October 30th – Indianapolis, Indiana
Hosted by Growing Places Indy and White River State Park – Garden Tour 11:15-11:45 and Presentation 12:00-1:30 PM
Indiana State Museum – 650 W Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46204
November 1st – Chicago, Illinois (Naperville)
Hosted by The Conservation Foundation and North Central College – 1:30-4:30 PM
Event details and registration here.
Stevenson Hall, 2nd Floor of Wentz Science Center at North Central College, 131 S Loomis St, Naperville, IL, 60540
November 3rd – Washburn, Wisconsin
Hosted by Washburn Public Library – 6:00-8:00 PM
307 Washington Ave, Washburn, WI 54891