Real Street Food: Urban Foraging in Los Angeles

Christopher Nyerges has always loved plants and the outdoors. When he was a kid, he would forage and store plants in his parents’ refrigerator. Now, Nyerges is teaching others to do the same. But this isn’t some nature hike foraging. Nyerges uses his encyclopedic botanical knowledge and a keen eye for urban-dwelling edible wild plants to teach other residents of Los Angeles where to find them. At his School of Self-Reliance, he shows city folks how to scour alleyways, parking lots, city parks and the sides of highways to find unexpected wild eats. From mustard flowers to radish pods, mallow fruits to mushrooms, Nyerges can help you forage for the best vegetarian street food you’ve never had.
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[@johnlamarca9439]

I remember the first time I washed my hands with the yucca leaves. I got that amazing feeling. Without your free KZbin videos and your books I bought, my homeless life at my campsite would have been miserable. Instead I actually enjoyed my 14 years of camping there. I am greatful for the honor of meeting you in person.🙂😎

[@milky6124]

Jeez I hope I can become this guy. Everytime i pass a certain part of town their is some wild berries that taste so good, my friends think I'm weird and my family is on the verge of disowning me but those berries are so good

[@tollutollu]

live your dreams berry bro

[@atsukana1704]

Abraham Hernandez depends on what kind of berries they are, you may be getting drugged with these berries and saying stupid things

[@animegenre9224]

Please continue

[@jnuval]

My mom did that in Virginia years ago. Turns out they were wild boysenberries.

[@fana406]

Your family!!!!

[@Conundroy]

Bringing a whole new meaning to "You are what you eat"

[@TheXeeman]

i bags this guy for next zombie invasion

[@luminalsaturn2]

Yummmmm... I practically grew up on lamb's quarters! Steam 'em like spinach; or just snacking while helping Mom weed the garden. You can TASTE the nutrients in them!

[@TheArgonaut]

Could someone explain to me how they are able to put out so many videos from around the world with the same quality? Do they just have a pair of filmmakers travels collecting videos on stories? Do they have lots of people from around the world send in there stories or is it a ton of filmmakers living super cheaply to make this happen?

[@dylanchan7913]

If I am not mistaken, they are part of CNN. They have a bunch of filmmakers around the world.

[@rphawks6250]

Dylan Chan They might not be owned, on their website it says "our friends at CNN". They have filmmakers who travel, but maybe they have other ways to make videos.

[@bernicethambiraja5240]

Dah Argonaut they're a part of CNN. Visited the headquarters this year. They must have a pretty significant budget. By significant I mean more than independent filmmakers for sure.

[@caveatemp]

It amazes me the things people plant in their yards. Inedible, poisonous plants. And yet all around their yards are unintentional edibles. And they buy their food in a grocery store. Anyone looking down on us, studying us anthropologically would first note the highly stylized culture we have. We mock and primitivize cultures that have such elaborate social functions for seemingly no practical reasons and yet we are the epitome of that. I love this guy, He's my people.

[@DBeastLee]

Idk man. A lot of the places look like places people would just take a piss on

[@chickgonesquirrely]

David exactly

[@jackthefrog80085]

thats why u wash it

[@Ranakade]

NOICE XD

[@hopelesslydull7588]

Adds to the flavor.

[@eggs2627]

Completely love this man!

[@manzoorboy06]

I should try this at work. we have lots of plants outside.

[@nedisahonkey]

manzoorboy06 Yup. Just eat any plants you see, don't bother identifying them.

[@Steveazencho]

very interesting 👍

[@riamoreland7738]

I just taking nothing and making something out of it seem like nothing. We’re so rich with food all around us and resources. The best home to me is adobe or cob.❤

[@notconvincedgranny6573]

Probably not a good idea to go foraging on private property (or where there is a physical barrier and a sign that says "keep out"). And definitely take a class from someone like this guy. We have people die every year because they thought they were picking harmless mushrooms and ended up with death caps.

[@randoomit]

danmI thought this would be a realy cool video showing of the best and realest street food places in la

[@isabellabornberg2153]

randoomit well you weren't dissapointed I hope

[@eamonbrannigan]

In a way it is

[@BF3blog]

"Fresh food" next to a freeway in the most polluted city in the US...

[@KhanhTheLearner]

I'm afraid farmed vegetables that have been drowned in pesticides are not exactly that much cleaner. My mom always tells me to wash vegetables 3 times before cooking, regardless of farmed, organic (however ridiculous that term sounds), or wild. At least wild plants grow on soil untouched by farmers and not 'cared for' in the way common vegetables are. You can just wash the dirt off

[@hayden3774]

@@KhanhTheLearner Proof? No proof that pesticides harm humans. Does that make them good? No, especially organic pesticide that kills everything like the bees. At least with synthetic we can tailor to the specific pest we need to eradicate. The only harm from pesticide is if you are in the middle of the field while they are spraying it. These plants on the side of a polluted roadway take all the exhaust and runoff from the street.

[@absolutelyknot2481]

@@hayden3774 the problem is that many people wouldn't care. If it makes money but hurts the enviroment, they will do it anyways. Organic or non organic it doesnt matter. Money is on people's mind these days

[@PallidTrash]

This guy is amazing in his efforts to live a healthy lifestyle. You know we all started off this way at one point! Hunters and gatherers who brought food back to their tribes or their camps and fed their villages. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Indians to this day and tribes from all around the world still do this. From deep in the jungles to far off islands. Wow...

[@TheRickyH]

You are spot on about all this except- Dinosaurs (not birds) and the Homo genus never coexisted.

[@alan2here]

Great episode as always :) I'm certainly a foodie myself, I tend to forage for eateries from countries I've never seen before though. Asian, Indian, Polish, Turkish, etc...

[@deharris1363]

😂😂😋

[@MartinTabanag]

absolutely wanna try this.

[@AdamBechtol]

"Weeds are just plant's we haven't found uses for yet" - Henry David Thoroeau At some point I'll put some videos up on my channel about some of the plants he mentioned like Lambs Ear and Purslane. For those living in the Midwest as opposed to L.A.

[@ashenXsugar]

He's in NatGeo's Doomsday Preppers! it's on Netflix UK right now, i thought he looked familiar

[@natahural6075]

good

[@nishanth.v.k]

Wow. A good story

[@apearl420]

This is amazing!

[@Diana21Dee]

This is super interesting, but are there health risks associated with finding food in the urban wild? I'm wondering if there is a way to tell whether or not a plant has been exposed to urban contaminants. Like are there certain places that should be avoided?

[@natashasemrau3670]

I hope more people will learn to respect our weeds as a food source. In the LA climate there is a warmer climate, but we all have weeds that are good for eating. After all dandylions grow every where! We have lambs quarters, purslain and mushrooms all over America. When l was a kid l tried to plant a weed garden, the weeds died. They like finding their own homes, and soil. Weeds have a mind of their own!

[@Lk-kl5fy]

Awesome! How to join his tours ??

[@GamingTaylor]

I honestly thought this was going to be about a hobo looking for food.

[@kevincruzen2499]

Someone needs to do this with city fauna rather then flora.

[@CandyKHXS]

irl harvest moon foraging

[@census3370]

Ima need to take his classes to survive the zombie apocalypse. Where’s he at I’m in LA?

[@delanyandrea]

Where can I take your class? Been looking in Los Angeles and haven’t found one. Please let me know.

[@wormz6475]

'Los Angeles really is a good place to forage' welp I'm comin' over

[@noahhenderson3164]

Why the re-upload D: I cannot tell if this is different than the original or not.

[@surfdetective]

The Last Hippy…..better not forage my pot plants

[@kordovaia]

Why didn't he eat the cactus (nopales)?

[@kakuella]

Did the guy just trespassed the private property??

[@dr.quackenbacker5247]

Yah mean to fucking tell me that the mallow plant that has been destroying my backyard is edible? Well bake my biscuits, someone tell me how to cook it.

[@jacobdees3882]

Gotta make sure those plants are 🅱️oneless

[@erockstoenescu6171]

Why the re-upload?

[@lutheriii6209]

Is this a re-upload? Also wanna here a joke? Me too :(

[@xdtdchannel4666]

Lil Lu Productionz What do you get if your mascot is a clown?

[@lutheriii6209]

XDTD Channel what?

[@xdtdchannel4666]

Lil Lu Productionz A tweet that saids "No wonder your mascot is a clown, your food is a joke.".

[@xdtdchannel4666]

Lil Lu Productionz Was that a bad joke or a good joke?

[@Austin-kc6cw]

Joshua Xiong is that a Jojo reference?

[@exxplaysfifa9420]

i swear it smells like piss everywhere in la

[@SandraSine40]

ok but isn't that plant kind of dirty from the smog/car exhaust, and I wouldn't dare to collect so near a walking path what if some dog pissed there lol

[@kutsop]

Pretty sure he's sneaking onto JPL

[@henriccarlsson9052]

He knows about our appendix not working anymore right?

[@aquafishsoup]

Is that black carbon soot floating in my soup?

[@thegossiptimes]

That's the most beautiful rhyme I've ever heard 😭👏🏻

[@atsukana1704]

Where do you find these guys?

[@anjobanjo5643]

Reupload?

[@jeff7336]

Is this a reupload

[@SuperCornjulio]

20th century hippies

[@evannirkuta5163]

Interesting, but what about the level of pollutants in these urban wild weeds...? 🤔

[@nmimagine]

Stardew Valley

[@soulassassin0g]

How I forage: **goes to food bank for free food even though I'm not homeless and has a job**

[@markgraham1906]

Sounds about white

[@neuraythomas9758]

California looks lit lmao

[@lewisperez6469]

Neuray Thomas stays lit family

[@nedisahonkey]

Neuray Thomas And thats the worst part of the state!

[@aagang4513]

Neuray Thomas Yeah, and with last year's drought, it really was...*lit* Sorry I'll go.

[@dragz4life422]

260th view

[@aconcerneduser4950]

This is a re-upload.

[@chongk3y760]

255th veiwer

[@doggydog490]

wow a reupload :/

[@nyaexodus3474]

O.O

[@bikelambo123]

why re upload???? trying to make more money??

[@TealScarab]

All he needs is a beard to complete his look.

[@PutYourQuarterUpGaming]

Lol all these apoc preppers with bunkers and like caches of survival food kits etc. Want survive situation where our food supply chains are gone, this is guy need to study; nothing more.

[@justing7379]

I thought “real street food” was walking down the streets of NYC with a pizza slice in one hand and a large drink in another... :/

[@Condemn-Focus]

Plus dog pee on the plants I bet .........

[@ZumaPlayz]

isn't this stealing???

[@tite93]

OneSavageBeaver well, it technically doesn't belong to anyone and is otherwise useless

[@octobercoffee2714]

ew

[@marcelshred4937]

First

[@bobbydias5074]

This guy goes out to steal other peoples plants. Thief!

[@ethanhulgaard7680]

fake news

[@mychinabella9747]

Is he that broke he needs to eat wild animal food .... pathetic

[@lightmirror5948]

MY CHINA BELLA he literally explained his reasoning in the video, there is no reason to attack him like that