{"id":21,"date":"2026-09-04T19:05:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T00:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conservationforaging.com\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2026-09-10T18:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T23:59:19","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/conservationforaging.com\/?page_id=21","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Conservation Foraging Center<\/strong> was launched in 2026 in an effort to cultivate a foraging community that puts stewardship <\/strong><\/em>at the center of harvesting practices, and to establish foraging<\/em> <\/strong>as an effective habitat conservation tool to be utilized and celebrated by the conservation community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Native ecosystems today are greatly threatened by habitat destruction, invasive species, pesticide contamination, etc., and we need MORE people interacting with, understanding, using, valuing, and personally invested <\/em>in protecting these communities. People and lands today are both deeply hurting, and coming together in reciprocal relationships offers so much potential for healing! Through mindful foraging, we have the opportunity to receive improved health, connection, and meaning in our lives, while giving the lands around us increased attention, care, and protection from habitat threats.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Our goals:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shine more light on foraging as a valid, ancient, and essential conservation strategy. <\/strong>This is nothing new- we have so much to learn from Indigenous peoples here in North America and around the globe <\/em>who have thousands of years of practice stewarding lands in ways that harmoniously and sustainably provide for themselves, without exploitation of the wildlife around them. If conservationists wish to honor traditional ecological knowledge and <\/em>experience better results on the ground, we must recognize and celebrate the role of careful, conservation-minded foraging as a critical tool for biodiversity protection on both public and private lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help to cultivate a more mindful foraging community that puts stewardship<\/em> at the center of harvesting practices. <\/strong>This means asking “how can I help?” rather than “what can I take?” This means pulling buckthorn out of the oak woods where the chantarelles grow. Planting a milkweed patch big enough to feed hundreds of monarchs and maybe a meal or two for ourselves. Finding creative and delicious ways to use garlic mustard, preventing it from setting seed, and returning again and again to make sure the wild geraniums and trillium have light and space to grow. Bigger picture, this means eating as local and wild as possible, reducing our “food footprints” (packaging waste, food transportation emissions, habitat destruction and pesticides used in many agricultural systems). There are hidden costs in every bite of food we eat, and foraging offers a way to “opt-out” of industrial agriculture and the associated environmental and social injustices inherent in our mainstream food systems.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Founder, Sarah (Sair) Foltz Jordan,<\/strong> is a conservation biologist and educator based in Duluth, MN. She teaches a wide range of natural history topics, especially focused on native habitat restoration, insect & pollinator conservation, and wild edible mushrooms & plants. An avid forager, Sarah loves how wild food provides both exceptional nourishment and daily connection to ecological communities. Sarah has been teaching mushroom ID and other foraging workshops for over 20 years, with an emphasis on the concept of \u201cconservation through connection\u201d– how foraging through the lens of ecological awareness enables us to become important stewards of biodiversity, and how foraging grounded in reciprocity can be win-win-win, for physical nourishment, psychological well-being, and ecological resilience. Sarah also designs & curates interactive displays of over 200 wild edible plants & mushrooms that can be found in the Great Lakes region, labeled and organized for participants to learn from and connect with in unique ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah most-recently directed the conservation program for a small study abroad company, working with partners across the globe to develop travel itineraries that provide immersive experiences in critical issues such as endangered species and ecosystem restoration. Although trained in Western science, Sarah\u2019s eye is often on the critical role of traditional ecological knowledge in conservation, and how much we can learn about habitat protection from cultures and worldviews more focused on reciprocal relationships and deep respect for the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Previously, Sarah worked for 15 years at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation<\/a> where she led Xerces\u2019 Upper Midwest pollinator team, largely focused on restoring habitat for native bees, reducing pesticides, and other policy and education initiatives. In this role, she worked with farmers across the region to plant native habitat on their lands; partnered with NRCS, BWSR, DNR, WFAN, Monarch Joint Venture, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Marbleseed, and others to lead conservation field days and trainings across the region; delivered hundreds of presentations on pollinator conservation, wrote Endangered Species Act petitions for our nation\u2019s most at-risk insects; completed IUCN status assessments for all North American\u2019s bumble bees; and served on MN Governor Dayton\u2019s Pollinator Protection Committee for 3 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah holds a Master\u2019s in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Conservation Foraging Center was launched in 2026 in an effort to cultivate a foraging community that puts stewardship at the center of harvesting practices, and to establish foraging as … <\/p>\n

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