For ‘Plant Man,’ parks are botanic free buffet
From http://www.thevillager.com/villager_272/forplantman.html
When Nat Bletter doesn’t have a paycheck to buy pastries or his favorite Thai soup, he hits East River Park across from his apartment for lamb’s-quarters, pineapple weed and Juneberries.
“I think people need to realize that food doesn’t just come packaged from the supermarket,” said Bletter, 38, whose full name means “God gives leaves” in a mix of Hebrew and Yiddish.
Surely there are other botanists on the concrete-covered island of Manhattan, but probably none is more passionate about eating what grows there. Bletter is far from the typical New Yorker. He’s more likely to be scaling trees than riding elevators up skyscrapers. You’ll find him getting his jam from Central Park, rather than Dean & DeLuca. And he’ll grab a park salad along the Hudson River Park bike path at W. 46th St., instead of stopping at H & H Bagels across the street.
This month, Bletter will finish his doctorate in ethnobotany - the study of how humans interact with plants - but he is far from an impartial scientist. To encourage people to use the plants from their neighborhoods, Bletter leads edible-plant walks in different parts of the city.
“Foraging is about connecting people back to the planet that gives them sustenance,” he said.
...Bletter takes invasive species as a challenge to be eaten “into control.” To combat these pesky plants, he plans to start a company called Eating Aliens, which would market some of these healthy and tasty weeds.
He has already established another company for raw chocolate, Pure Origins, with Mandel. Their treats will concentrate antioxidants to four times the amount found in most products, so that chocoholics can eat much less of their favorite treat while getting the same nutritional benefits. They will also incorporate traditional ingredients of the Mayans, Aztecs and Olmecs, who were the first to prepare chocolate with chili peppers, vanilla and obscure flowers.
When Nat Bletter doesn’t have a paycheck to buy pastries or his favorite Thai soup, he hits East River Park across from his apartment for lamb’s-quarters, pineapple weed and Juneberries.
“I think people need to realize that food doesn’t just come packaged from the supermarket,” said Bletter, 38, whose full name means “God gives leaves” in a mix of Hebrew and Yiddish.
Surely there are other botanists on the concrete-covered island of Manhattan, but probably none is more passionate about eating what grows there. Bletter is far from the typical New Yorker. He’s more likely to be scaling trees than riding elevators up skyscrapers. You’ll find him getting his jam from Central Park, rather than Dean & DeLuca. And he’ll grab a park salad along the Hudson River Park bike path at W. 46th St., instead of stopping at H & H Bagels across the street.
This month, Bletter will finish his doctorate in ethnobotany - the study of how humans interact with plants - but he is far from an impartial scientist. To encourage people to use the plants from their neighborhoods, Bletter leads edible-plant walks in different parts of the city.
“Foraging is about connecting people back to the planet that gives them sustenance,” he said.
...Bletter takes invasive species as a challenge to be eaten “into control.” To combat these pesky plants, he plans to start a company called Eating Aliens, which would market some of these healthy and tasty weeds.
He has already established another company for raw chocolate, Pure Origins, with Mandel. Their treats will concentrate antioxidants to four times the amount found in most products, so that chocoholics can eat much less of their favorite treat while getting the same nutritional benefits. They will also incorporate traditional ingredients of the Mayans, Aztecs and Olmecs, who were the first to prepare chocolate with chili peppers, vanilla and obscure flowers.