Can a person survive just by foraging?

By the time we move into the second term of the Trump Administration, about half of the population will be doing this.

Of course it's possible in the right area. It's called hunter gatherer btw.

Chances are it won't be possible for him though, especially not in a public park.

He lives in a small city in southwestern Ontario. I suppose there are some public forests and conservation areas nearby, but I can't imagine there will be much in the way of food. I don't think he wants to hunt, he's one of those on and off vegetarians and has very little experience outdoors.

Winter?

There's an old bus he can live in along the Stampede trail, near the Sushana River in Alaska.

Subaru Forager wrote:

He lives in a small city in southwestern Ontario. I suppose there are some public forests and conservation areas nearby, but I can't imagine there will be much in the way of food. I don't think he wants to hunt, he's one of those on and off vegetarians and has very little experience outdoors.

lol. Then no. He will be dumpster diving and panhandling by next week.

It is possible to forage in the tropics because the weather is warm all year round. You get shelter that does not require heating and food that grows in the wild like fruits and vegetables plus easy fishing. I saw people living like this on Zanzibar. This is not possible to do in Ontario. No, he will freeze to death before he starves. In "My Side of the Mountain," the boy survived mostly alone until Christmas, and then he realized winter hadn't even gotten started yet so he gave up and went home.

There was a thread about this not too long ago. Living off the grid. There have also been posts and threads generally about this sort of thing. The most recent thread had a case example of the dude who went into the Alaskan bush and was pretty hardy if very unprepared (by the standard of the challenge, but decently prepared compared to most average joes). The guy might have gotten poisoned by wild potato or something which interfered with his digestion of fats and lead him to starve. Or that combined with not being able to get enough fats, nuts and meat.

Indiana D00d wrote:

There's an old bus he can live in along the Stampede trail, near the Sushana River in Alaska.

Isn't it the Teklanika River?

Even though the climate is harsh in Alaska, it's probably one of the few places in the US that you could actually pull this off (legally), and people have done this successfully. It would be rough but doable, without much start up money. Get some land and build a cabin near a major river, put up a fish wheel and gather your salmon, get a hunting permit for moose and caribou, grow a vegetable garden (lots of light in the summer), and have a cellar in the permafrost so you can store your food.

Here's how you do it, even without a dollar to your name today:

Get a job in the fishing industry over the summer for a couple years; work at a ski area in the winter and save your money.

Purchase the land and go for it as described above.

I agree that a knowledgeable, strong and healthy person could survive in Alaska if they prepare themselves prior to winter. I remember watching a documentary about a guy who did that. Google: Dick Proenneke.

The OP specifically said that his friend was going to forage rather than farm. I took that to mean that he wasn't going to prepare anything to provide for his future sustenance. To me, forage implies pretty much living day to day, but I could be mistaken.

Sure it's possible. Plenty of people have done it in much worse climate. Look up Richard Proenneke. Genuine bada$$.

Christopher Knight was a guy that lived alone in the woods of Maine for almost 30 years. Though he survived by committing a bunch of robberies.

Indiana D00d wrote:

There's an old bus he can live in along the Stampede trail, near the Sushana River in Alaska.

Yeah, but that didn't work out so well, and I think THAT guy was quicker for the 5k.

The natives in every area survived by foraging etc. so clearly it can be done, even in Ontario

But you obviously have to know HOW and even the natives have forgotten that.

Watch a couple episodes of survivorman and decide

The guy goes by jamin here. He has other bad ideas too.

Border Services have banned jamin from Canada.

First of all his 5k time is too slow to indicate the genetic ability and dedication to successfully survive longterm by foraging.

If he plans to live in a semi-urban environment he may be able to forage some by eating the scraps and leftovers of food left on tables in outdoor cafes, in parks, on sidewalks, etc. Plenty of squirrels eat spilled French fries, apple cores, etc. That is not technically dumpster diving.

It would be socially unacceptable to live a true hunter/gatherer lifestyle in an urban area. Especially the hunter part. Pigeons, squirrels, rats, other birds and even small pets would be easy prey but he would have to be very discreet and it would be frowned upon.

Urban environments have been significantly modified to the extent that they do not offer much vegetation to eat. They are primarily concrete and asphalt. He would have to cover a very large area to find naturally growing food sources. Yes he could eat dandelions, purslane and other "weeds", but they do not offer much caloric density.

He could successfully forage by stealing food from supermarkets and street vendors. Eventually he would be caught, especially as a 16+ min 5k runner.

I think people would appreciate a guy who lives on rats, pigeons and squirrels.

This is what I do for a living.

Everytime I take a group out on a plant walk someone asks this question. While it is possible, the answer is pretty much no. The trouble with looking back at hunter/ gatherer cultures is that they had communities that worked together. Something you can forage that acts like a staple food, maybe nuts, take hours of processing to get a couple hand fulls. It's a full lifestyle commitment.

Living off the grid is not hard. You won't die in the winter if you're not stupid, nature has natural technologies to help us survive.

If he wants to live without money, that's really easy. Biggest drawback is that your friend may find it kinda lonely.