Collect and Protect: The Sustainable Harvest of Ramps

Ramps, AKA Wild Leeks, are an ancient food plant of North America that has been sustainably harvested for thousands of years. Learn about the ecology and lore of this species, its culinary use, and its potential as part of a sustainable food economy. This ancient tradition of using ramps has come under fire in recent decades due to anti-foraging attitudes fueled by very limited and poorly designed research. Although ramps are abundant over millions of acres of eastern North America, many people are calling for prohibition of harvest. The media has parroted unfounded fearmongering about the decline of ramps, based solely on a small number of local anecdotes that are never questioned. Online foraging groups explode each spring with ramp-shaming arguments fueled by misinformation about the supposed demise of this thriving species. I made this video to start a rational conversation about the conservation of this species alongside its traditional use. The idea that harvest cannot be sustainable, or is a major threat to ramp survival, is unfounded and insidious. This video shares some insights from two decades harvesting and managing wild ramps on my property, researching ramp ecology, reproduction, and sustainable harvest, and interviewing and learning from responsible stakeholders and caretakers of the amazing ramp resource.

Click here to watch the video here: