Browsing by Subject "urbaani luonto"

In this thesis, I describe the foraging of wild foods in the Helsinki capital region. Foraging wild foods is seen as an activity done by a household that can be described as a conjunction of humane and material interaction. The household and urban nature interact in a way in which the household obtains natural goods from the cultural ecological resources, from which it prepares food. The research questions were: 1. How are the resources in cultural ecological theory seen in urban forging of wild foods? 2. Which meanings does the urban forager of wild foods give to his or her hobby? The research questions were answered based on the methods of qualitative research. A total of ten wild food foragers participated in group interviews during four different sessions that were organized in January and February 2018. The participants were found from the author’s close acquaintances and from Facebook groups specialized on the topic. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The analysis was done by using theory- and material-based content analysis. As according to the cultural ecological theory, the urban foragers utilized the nature of Helsinki capital region with the help of traditions, economic considerations, technical aspects and social characteristics. In the Helsinki capital region, the use of this resources was limited by available knowledge, space and time. As a household activity, foraging wild foods and using them appeared as a conjunction of humane and material interaction, in which the humane aspect played a larger role. The participants were seeking recreation from foraging, in which most central were senses, aesthetics and memorability. The catch was seen as a bonus that complemented the diets of urban inhabitants according to the season. During the summer season it was possible to decrease household food expenditures by utilizing nature’s products in different ways. Wild food was seen as healthy, valuable and sustainable food. Communality and participating in public discussion on social topics were also connected to foraging. As a whole, foraging was seen as a way to deepen the relationship between the household and urban nature. While foraging, the participants also took notice of abnormalities in circulation of nature, which to some extent raised participants’ worries regarding the effects of human activity on nature.