Hidden in Toronto’s urban jungle awaits a bounty of healthy and delicious food ripe for the picking. For urban foragers, who hunt through parks and green space for wild foods, the city is one giant produce aisle.

David Arama, is a survival expert and urban forager. He often harvests plants and berries to supplement his diet and save some money.

Walking through the woods with Arama is an education. Every few steps he stops to point out a new plant and sometimes pops it in his mouth.

“A lot of so-called weeds are highly useful or medicinal,” he said, explaining that in the woods there are two types of plants—the “wants-tos” and the “gots-tos”

“There are ones you want to eat and ones you gots-to eat to survive,” he said.

Arama, 56, grew up in North York and started foraging when he was in his 20s.

He operates by three simple rules:

Only eat something if you’re 100 per cent sure what it is

Always ask permission to forage on somebody’s property

Leave some behind—don’t over pick areas and ruin them for others

Although he lives outside Toronto now he often comes back to the city to take groups on foraging hikes and teach them about foods they can find in their own backyards.

Among his clients are an increasing number of gourmet chefs seeking to incorporate wild foods into their creations.

“There’s definitely a big trend,” said Michael Hunter, an executive chef. “It’s new, it’s exciting and it’s different flavours.”

Hunter is aptly named. A frequent forager, he said he tries to incorporate food he’s gathered into the meals he prepares.

Wild leeks, watercress and mushrooms including morels and chanterelles are among the wild plants coveted by chefs.

“The big thing is the freshness,” said Hunter. “When you pick something in the morning and you’re preparing it for dinner that night it’s amazing. The flavour is just incredible.”

Hunter takes his chefs out on excursions to harvest plants, but declined to say where, adding that his mushroom patches are “closely guarded secrets.”

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Arama said the most common places to find urban edibles is near wetlands or at what he calls “pioneer sites” where woodlands were disturbed and new plants are growing back.

The most common uses for wild plants include teas, salads and jams but supermarket staples such as apples, wild carrots, and grapes are plentiful too.

Plants people might not consider food such as sumac or cattails, which Arama calls the “supermarket of the wilderness” because of they’re so rich in carbohydrates, are also common in the city.

“Any of these foods can be found across Toronto,” said Arama. “They’re in High Park, the Humber Valley, the Don Valley and the Rouge.”

Before putting anything in your mouth Arama advises people to study the history of pollution in the area then read field guides or go out with an experienced forager as there are lots of look alike plants that can be dangerous.

“Ninety-nine per cent of poisonous plants, if you get to urgent care fast enough, you’re going to live,” he said, the exception being mushrooms.

“Mushrooms don’t give you a second chance; if it’s a really poisonous mushroom you’re dead.”

Forager tool kit

-Backpack or fanny pack

-Emergency first aid and survival gear including a compass/map, communication device, flashlight or headlamp, insect repellant and sunscreen

-GPS unit, for marking waypoints where favorite wild edibles are found

-pocket knife

-trowel or folding shovel

-Bags for gathering bounty

-Gloves

-Water bottle