Foods You Can and Can’t Forage For in Michigan

Times are changing, grocery prices are rising faster than wages. It may be time to learn to forage for wild foods to save money in Michigan.

Grocery Prices Are Rising

Normally, my home insurance, vehicle insurance, and healthcare prices raise my blood pressure the most. Now I have to add the cost of groceries to my list of financial frustrations.

👇BELOW: How Much the Average American Family Spends on Groceries👇

Grocery prices (or consumer gouging) surged during the pandemic, and in 2022, they increased nearly 10%. Ever since this new administration took office, prices have continued to rise, and thanks to tariffs, groceries will soon reach record highs.

Michigan families are looking for new ways to save money on groceries. Many families have stopped buying the extra stuff, while others are planting gardens, hunting and fishing for meat, raising chickens, and others may even begin foraging for wild foods.

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Foods You Can and Can't Forage For in Michigan

Michigan has a lot of state and federal land that residents can forage for wild foods. Foraging is a great way to save money, exercise, and enjoy the outdoors.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, lots of public land is available in the state that has harvestable mushrooms, nuts, berries, and tree fruits. If you want to tap some maple trees for syrup, that has to be done on private land, so make sure you own it or have permission, and the same goes for whole plants.

Below is a list of items you are allowed to harvest on public land:

• Mushrooms - morels, chanterelles, chicken of the woods, hen of the woods, and oyster mushrooms.
• Wild Berries - black berries, blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, elderberries, juneberries, juniper, staghorn sumac berries, and mulberries
• Nuts - black walnuts, American hazels, butternut, chestnuts, beech nuts, and hickory nuts.

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Below is a list of wild items you are not allowed to forage for on public land:

• Wild Ginseng - federally protected
• Fiddleheads of Ferns
• Ramps (wild onions) - all plants that are cut or killed upon harvest
• Maple Trees - no tapping on public lands

Make you read up on identifying anything you want to harvest from public land in Michigan.