Bottom Line Health interviews Camire for article on edible weeds

Mary Ellen Camire, a University of Maine professor of food science and human nutrition, and president of the Institute of Food Technologists, spoke with Bottom Line Health for the article, “5 edible weeds that are probably growing in your yard.” Camire warned if people aren’t sure what a plant is, they shouldn’t eat it. “There are many lookalikes in the plant kingdom,” she said. To learn how to identify what’s edible in a specific region, Camire suggests attending a wild foraging workshop at a local Cooperative Extension, arboretum or chapter of the Audubon Society, according to the article. Camire also suggested people pick weeds only from areas that haven’t been treated with pesticides or herbicides, and “avoid plants that have been exposed to high levels of car exhaust, such as those that grow alongside roads, near septic leach fields or businesses that use chemicals, or near any other potential sources of contamination.”