Here’s How One Person Makes a Living Foraging Mushrooms
You do what? A professional forager talks about why he never has a bad day at work, but still thinks you should keep your desk job.
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Randy Riley
Harvester and Forager
St. Helens, Oregon
The job: Riley, 65, forages for a variety of edibles like stinging nettles, watercress, elderberries, wild onions, fiddlehead greens, maple buds as well as mushrooms like chanterelles, hedgehogs and black trumpets. “I pick a little of everything,” he says. Several licensed buyers, like Farm and Wild, buy from Riley and later sell to restaurants and grocery stores. Foragers aren’t legally allowed to sell directly.