Mixing Thanksgiving with climate justice: forget the turkey, pass the foraged plants

Ever thought to eat what is commonly considered an invasive weed?

That’s exactly what this group of nine Bay Area residents did recently, nibbling away at bright green nasturtium leaves under the guidance of Linh Hoang, who hosted “A New Thanksgiving” at the Lake Merritt Pergola in collaboration with Sunrise Movement Bay Area.

Eyes lit up and eyebrows rose as the sharp, radish-like flavor of the leaves burst onto tastebuds. 

The event combined a potluck dinner with lessons about edible plants that can be found growing in sidewalk cracks and neighborhood parks around Oakland. For Hoang, it was an opportunity to connect Indigenous practices of foraging to the work of climate justice, and to address deep-seated myths surrounding the holiday. 

A San Francisco artist and designer, Hoang asked the group to raise their hands if they’d heard the Thanksgiving origin story. “You know, the pilgrims and the Native Americans sharing, all kumbaya and whatever,” she said.

Every hand went up. She then asked people to keep their hands raised if they believed the story. They let out a knowing laugh, as everyone put their hands down.

“But even if that story is bogus, it doesn’t mean the themes of sharing and community aren’t important,” Hoang said., “We are allowed to make our own traditions. We’re allowed to write our own stories, we are allowed to change the narrative.”

From pandemic to potluck

Hoang’s interest in foraging was born, in part, out of the toilet paper-hoarding and panic-buying that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeling a growing disconnect from real life, she sought inspiration from Indigenous practices that involve a less extractive relationship with the natural world.

In a digitally driven era, Hoang said she longed to put her hands in dirt and connect with nature. “I want to literally touch grass, and I might want to eat it, too,” she said. “So that’s what I did.”

Hoang has been hosting free public foraging classes in Golden Gate Park for a couple months. That’s where Sarah Gao, an organizer with the climate justice organization Sunrise Movement Bay Area, discovered Hoang and pitched the collaboration.

Attendees each brought a potluck dish — spicy lotus root salad, crunchy rolled tacos, tofu in a flavorful chili glaze — and welcomed passersby who stopped out of curiosity.

Sarah Tracy, a software engineer who recently moved to San Francisco from New York, said she came to the event in search of a like-minded community willing to tackle issues like climate change.

“It’s a good way to build connection with other people,” she said. 

At the steps of the Pergola, Hoang’s decorative table of edible wild plants included yarrow, nasturtium and stinging nettle. All grow in the Bay Area, and while foraging in local parks isn’t generally allowed, Hoang said,  that hasn’t stopped her. At Lake Merritt, though, waste and pollution make hands-on foraging too risky, so Hoang brought the plants from her backyard.

Hoang passed those plants around the circle for people to smell, feel, and in some cases — like the nasturtium leaves — taste. Stinging nettle can be used for reducing inflammation or lowering blood pressure, she explained, while yarrow helps to heal wounds.

Each person was asked to move toward the plant that resonated the most with them. They then were presented with a prompt: “What do you feel you have an abundance of right now that you want to share, and what do you need in order to be able to share it?’’

A common theme was the rejuvenating effect of being in community, despite difficulty getting motivated to leave the house and go to social events. 

Blair Nakamoto, an Oakland resident and organizer with Sunrise Bay Area Movement, said she appreciated the light-heartedness and community-building of the event, which offered a small reprieve for her and other climate activists in attendance.

“We’re the ones who, bottom-up, can fight these things and raise awareness and teach each other and learn from each other,” Nakamoto said, “whether it’s something fun like this,” or in meetings about legislation.

Hoang encouraged the group to foster reciprocal and respectful relationships with nature. 

“With everything going on in the world,” she said, “we need the ability to regenerate more than consume.”

(Top photo: Linh Hoang holds yarrow for Sarah Tracy to smell.)

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