The Family Foraging Kitchen is a social enterprise dedicated to tackling local food poverty by providing quality and affordable wild food education to the people of Cornwall. As a C.I.C, a percentage of the profit made from our ticketed courses allows us to provide the same educational opportunities to those experiencing food poverty and/or social isolation for free. We believe that all people should have access to wild food education, as well as the confidence to access nutritious, sustainable, local, fresh food. For every walk or course you purchase from The Family Foraging Kitchen – you help to provide a local family the skills to find free food forever. 

Modern agricultural methods have meant that foraging, once a part of our ancestral daily life, has faded away, replaced by regular family trips to the supermarket. As a result, we are becoming more disconnected from the food that we eat. Given the ecological, social, and environmental crises that we now face globally, humanity needs to – rather urgently and radically – examine its relationship with food and how we acquire it. Additionally, we also feel that traditional skills and crafts are in danger of being lost, especially to our children, which is why we also work with a team of local artisans to offer courses that preserve ancestral heritage and traditional skills.

Foraging is about more than sourcing food and nourishment. As an activity, it encourages us to get out into the countryside, helping us to cultivate an intimate appreciation of nature, while letting us better understand local history, science, and folklore. It has the potential to bond families, strengthen communities, and re-establish ecological connections severed by modern life. There is also a good deal of fear and misinformation surrounding the use and consumption of wild plants, and we believe that the best way to combat this is to share knowledge, helping communities to understand how their wild environments can be used for good.

While our foraging walks, talks, and courses primarily take place across southeast Cornwall and Plymouth, we also have a fixed outdoor education centre for our skilled craft courses, which is based upon the Antony Estate in Sheviock. Here we have an outdoor classroom, covered outdoor work and cookery area, apiary, woodland, orchard, reservoir, and facilities, such a compost toilet – each established in line with our environmental and ethical policies. The facilities on site have been designed and built to accommodate for disabled accessibility.

If you are interested in better understanding the environment, come to Cornwall and explore what we have on offer!