What foraging taught me about life | Michelle Charest | TEDxRISD

Key Concepts

Dandelion greens, skunk cabbage buds, stews (as childhood play and adult artistic medium), foraging, resourcefulness, family traditions, historical archaeology, material culture, alcohol anthropology, home brewing, gluten intolerance, natural dyes, handmade textiles, experimentation, exploration, intergenerational knowledge transfer.

Dandelion Greens and Family History

Michelle Sherest begins by sharing a story about her grandparents, Anna and Lawrence Spaludo, on their engagement dinner day in April 1947. Despite the special occasion, the family prioritized picking dandelion greens, highlighting their resourcefulness and connection to their Italian heritage. Dandelion greens, typically considered weeds, were a valued food source, especially in the immigrant community of Windsorlocks, Connecticut, where ethnic foods were not readily available in stores. The best time to harvest dandelion greens is in early spring when they are young and tender. This tradition of foraging for dandelion greens has been passed down through generations, with Michelle and her sister participating alongside their grandparents and parents.

Childhood "Stews" and Exploration

As children, Michelle and her sister Jessica engaged in a form of make-believe they called "stew," using natural ingredients they found in their environment. One of their favorite ingredients was skunk cabbage buds, a plant known for its thermogenic ability, allowing it to emerge early in the spring. They would embark on "epic quests" to find skunk cabbage in a drainage ditch near their home. Skunk cabbage buds are found in riverbeds, wetlands, and swampy areas. Although they never actually used the stews they created, this play fostered a sense of exploration and experimentation.

Academic Career and a Turning Point

Michelle pursued a PhD in anthropology at Brown University, specializing in the anthropology of food and drink, with a focus on 19th-century historical archaeology and material culture, particularly pubs, saloons, and the Irish. She became an expert in the role of drinking establishments and the history of brewing, even becoming an accomplished home brewer, following the traditions of ale wives. However, in 2012, she developed a gluten intolerance, forcing her to abandon her academic focus and hobby, as barley, a key ingredient in beer (water, hops, yeast, and barley), contains gluten.

Reinventing "Stews" as Art

Faced with this challenge, Michelle drew upon her childhood experience of making "stews" and her family's tradition of resourcefulness. She began using plants and food scraps to create natural dyes for handmade textiles. She takes historic and traditional ways of doing things and making them less obscure, bringing them into the modern kitchen. Her recipes are not for food to eat, but for food for the eyes. She now teaches others how to make their own "stews" for artistic purposes.

Advice and Intergenerational Legacy

Michelle concludes by offering advice to her students, her daughter, and the audience: to explore, experiment, and riff with available materials, embrace mistakes, and encourage children to play and create. She realized that she had been unintentionally continuing the work of her childhood, making dyes and picking dandelion greens, just as her grandparents had done. She emphasizes the importance of sharing family heritage and knowledge with future generations, allowing them to create their own "recipes" for their futures. She encourages everyone to see dandelions as more than weeds, to find color in the gray, and to color their own world.