Maryland, My Maryland - Eat a Berry, Pay a Fee?

From WTOP, Proposed Maryland bill would let you pick your own food in forests managed by the state

Imagine picking blueberries, blackberries, mushrooms and other foods for free — or nearly free.

Maryland Del. Lorig Charkoudian is proposing just that — although under HB 257, foragers would need to get a permit, just as anglers and hunters do. And the foraging would be allowed on specially designated lands managed by the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

 

Charkoudian said food forests bring communities together and allow families who might otherwise go without food to supplement their diets. She cited several established community food forests in Maryland that allow people to take what they need, no questions asked.

At a House Environment and Transportation Committee meeting on Wednesday, Charkoudian said the altruistic model of the free food forests “works,” adding, “people don’t come and take too much, people don’t come and take more than they need.”

The bill is needed, she said, because under current laws, foraging is banned on lands managed by the DNR. Charkoudian envisions a requiring foragers to apply for a permit that would have “seasons and restrictions on what you can and can’t harvest and education that goes with it.”

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