I'm writing a PhD about the wild food scene in Brazil, and I'm especially interested in the reasons have for foraging and the role that that serves in their lives. I think for urbanites an activity like foraging can have a lot of value in creating a "relationship" between themselves and the natural environment. It's an alternative to mindless consumerism, and yes, as you say, a lot of people are worried and with good reason that people are losing the skills and knowledge necessary to make it if the "system" breaks down. Certainly it has very much entered into the collective imagination through post-apocalyptic genres. A lot of people are waking up to what is being lost and are making the decisions in their own lives that bring us closer to nature and closer to ourselves.

Jeez, just reread that, how rambley and pretentious, he he.