Yorkshire MasterChef contestant launches wild food business to encourage families to forage

There are two strands to Wild Food by Angela, which the mum-of-two of Gilberdyke in East Yorkshire, has recently launched. Subscription boxes with guides and equipment are designed to help people forage for food on their doorsteps - and Angela also runs botanical cooking inspired classes, working alongside educational settings, children’s clubs and forest schools.

Her mission is twofold; to help people find joy in nature, nourishing a love for local green spaces; and to make foraging an option for people in both urban and rural environments, highlighting the wild food that surrounds them.

“I’m trying really hard to use plants that grow in cracks on kerbways, for example, so if you don’t have access to forest space, you can still utilise the flora around you,” Angela says. “The guides I have aren’t for expert foragers wanting to look into it more,” she adds. “They’re for novices and people wanting to dip their toe in. They’re a fun family activity. The whole point is getting people out in nature and seeing what’s around them.”

Huddersfield-born Angela was first introduced to foraging as a child, when her mother dipped into the world of searching for wild food resources. But it was something she began in earnest when her daughters, now 11 and seven, were young children. “I wanted to vary their diet with things that were organic, natural and on my local doorstep,” she explains. “That appealed to me.”

Angela’s background is in childcare and educational settings, after graduating with a degree in education in 2011. She’s also been inspired by her own childhood growing up on a farm.

She has previously run nature learning experiences and summer camps for children and formerly worked in local authority-run children’s centres, where a key focus was on healthy eating. “I’ve also always really liked cooking,” she says. “It’s one of my love languages. When I’m feeding my family, it gives me a warm glow.”

Angela is also fascinated by entomology - the study of insects - and has spent many a happy day out with her family and friends on bug hunts. “I began to notice the botanical life around me and if I knew what the plants were I had a better ability of finding interesting creatures in their natural habitats,” Angela explains.

“This passion grew and I evolved into a keen forager, taking my children and whoever would entertain me on adventures to find and harvest free food.”

Berries, apples, rosehip, nettle seeds, dandelions and mushrooms are among the items that Angela has foraged. “When you forage things, you tend to batch cook, you dry, you put them in jars, you pickle,” she says. “I go out about once or twice a week, gather an abundance of things, preserve them and add them to things I make.”

Taking part in MasterChef, she says, was a leap out of her comfort zone but Angela was determined to publicise the world of foraging, preparing dishes with wild food for the nation to see.

It gave her the drive to help to make foraging and natural learning more accessible to both children and adults alike. And so Wild Food by Angela was born.

“When times are getting harder at the minute, with people tightening their belts and struggling more financially, there’s something healthy, nutritious and delicious on your doorstep and it’s free,” Angela says.

“You don’t have to be someone who wants to forage for everything they own and eat but if you could even do one meal a week, you’re saving a percentage of your food bill every month and it’s a fun day out as well.”