Tag Archives: health

Wildbiome 2 Project

Foraging, Projects, Wildbiome2, , , ,

How do wildfood diets effect the human body?

I’m a foraging teacher and herbalist in Amsterdam. I have been eating something wild and local every day for many years and I believe that it helps my body and mind, but does it really? To find out, I’ll be participating in the Wildbiome 2 research project, eating only wild food for one full month in April 2025. I need help to pay for my tests to see the health effects of the study.

Wildbiome 2 is a large follow-up study looking at how eating a wild food diet (like our hunter gatherer ancestors) affects human health today. The first study in 2023 was relatively small but delivered some fascinating results so I’m looking forward to finding out more this time as 120 foraging volunteers will take part.

During April 2025 I will eat only locally foraged wild food, no sneaky extras, no chocolate, matcha, spelt or homegrown veg, just 100% wild and local food. In Amsterdam, I’m sure it’s possible to be healthy by adding locally foraged food to our diet each day, but will eating it 100% show up issues? Will it show the effects of pollution? Will I be lacking in some nutrients? I think it will be fine, positive, but as someone who used to work in a research lab, I want to put this to the test scientifically. So some clinical tests need to be done.

Blood, stool and other testing will be done at the start and end of the trial month to look for effects on my gut microbiome, blood sugar, hormones, inflammation levels and many other health/illness markers. The tests are quite expensive so I need to raise funds to cover those costs alongside preparing my wild food store with acorns, apples, roots, leaves, berries, etc.

If you want to support this project, to help find out how wild food affect us, and to help pay for my tests, please donate through my Gofundme appeal.

The project starts on 1 April 2025 but I need to raise funds now.

As a token of my gratitude, I am offering the following:

First 20 people giving €25 donations: each a place on one of my Amsterdam herb group foraging walks, during Autumn, Winter or Spring 2024/5.

€50 donations: join a 1:2 walk.

€100 donations: a 1:1 walk at a mutually convenient time.

link to the Gofundme appeal

City Herb Events for Children

Urban Herb Walks, , , ,

City Herb Foraging for Children
Sunday 7th April and Sunday 21st April
Park Frankendael Foraging Gardens
10:30-12:00

These are small group sessions for children aged 7+ and their parents.

An introduction to some common Amsterdam herbs that grow in parks, streets, and gardens. A handout with information and recipes will be provided. We will make herb tea and some herbal concoctions after foraging the herbs.

Learn how to:

  • Identify, forage, and use key plants safely & ethically
  • Identify (and avoid) look-a-likes and common poisonous plants
  • Create simple foods, lotions, and potions using local herbs.

Each session will be led by Livvy de Graaf and assisted by Lynn Shore. Lynn is a professional foraging teacher (member Association of Foragers) and consulting herbalist. Livvy, is Dutch-British and has been harvesting and eating wild food for longer than she can remember. She is Lynn’s daughter.

We will be mainly in the River of Herbs foraging gardens, behind Huize Frankendael, which Lynn has run as a community project for the past 10 years.

Price per session
1 child – €15
1 child + 1 parent – € 25
[8 spaces available in total – no spaces available for adults alone]

Sugar and rain
As the beautiful Dutch saying goes, we are not made of sugar. So our events go ahead come rain or shine. We will postpone (and refund) if severe weather is forecast, such as a storm, because that could make the outdoor event unsafe. Otherwise, as the other saying goes – There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing..

To Book
Please Email stating your preferred date of event and how many children/adults.
To secure your place, payment must be received by bank transfer. We will send you the payment details when you email to book. Please look out for that reply as without payment, your booking is not complete and only a small number of places are available for Livvy’s events.

Refund Policy – Fully refundable up to 24 hours before the event. If you need to cancel after that time (so less than 24 hours before the event start time) a refund can only be made if we can fill your place with someone else.