Vacant lots can be sources of wild and naturalized food.
A woman with family roots in the central highlands of
Mexico reaches through a chain link fence to forage
for epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides) from a vacant
lot in Queens, New York. When epazote is available in
markets near her New York City home, often it is wilted
and expensive. Foraging for epazote provides her with
a source of food, pride, happy memories, and important
flavors for family meals. Photo by Maite Lascurain Rangel
Although regarded as noxious or invasive in many of
the regions in which it has naturalized, the wineberry
shrub (Rubus phoenicolasius) produces delicious fruit
treasured by foragers. Photo by Michelle Sutton
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