Why We Should Pick Berries

(Especially During Environmental Collapse)

Blackberry season is one of my favourite times of the year.

As summer comes to an end, there is a bounty of rich dark berries lining hedgerows, car parks, pavements, and anywhere else the rambling brambles can take root. Each year I excitedly fill containers up to the brim with my mum, who habitually carries around a plastic sandwich bag this time of year in anticipation  of stumbling across the berries.

We come home with bellies full of blackberries, fingers stained, and hands scratched from reaching for the big ones. She fills the freezer up with our freshly picked harvest, enough for many apple and blackberry crumbles in the year ahead. 

A Lost Connection

A recent Guardian article shows that human interaction with nature has declined by 60% over the last two centuries, and asserts that ‘nature connectedness is now accepted as a key root cause of the environmental crisis’.

A sustainable future therefore relies on a transformational change in how we relate to our natural environment — how can we care and protect the earth if we don't start interacting with it?

Why We Should Pick Berries

This is where play, wonder, and of course, picking berries comes in.

In a recent interview Potawatomi Botanist and Professor of Environmental Biology, Robin Wall Kimmerer, suggests that science and knowledge is not enough to halt and reverse ecological decline. To truly restore nature, we need to reenter a state of love and gratitude with the living world.

Kimmerer questions "how are we going to fall in love with the world again if we don't pick berries?". The wisdom of indigenous knowledge teaches us that we are not separate from nature. In the Indigenous languages Quechua and Aymara, there is no word for ‘nature’ since there is no separation.

Fostering Care

The root of the climate crisis lies in the extractive, hierarchical relationship with nature we have in the West, seeing ourselves as dominant over nature. Restoring this relation therefore starts with spaces that encourage engagement with nature; exploring, playing, picking, tasting.

As environmentalists, we should explicitly challenge the narrative that nature conservation only happens in the absence of humans. When we have a relationship to our living world, we naturally feel a sense of care towards it. When we experience the beauty of picking blackberries, eating the sweet loving gifts of mother nature, we want to love her back and act.

Where can we go from here?

Increasing our own nature connection: Small and simple acts in our daily lives are so powerful. 

How can you integrate more of the living world into your life? Maybe there's a small habit you can implement in your daily life like walking home without earphones in, and instead grounding yourself in what's around you. Noticing a plant growing in the cracks of the pavement, breathing in the smell of autumn air, listening to evening bird song. 

Inspiring  a natural connection. 

Action for climate and nature isn't just about the ‘big’ stuff, but also the smaller things. Encouraging and inspiring a connection with nature in the people around you is just as important. Don't take for granted the impact we all have in our daily lives in sharing wonder, awe and gratitude for our earth, and the action that can transpire from a strengthened nature connection.

Connecting with others in your community that are passionate about tackling the climate crisis. 

Is there a community garden or wildlife volunteering group nearby you can join? It can feel like a big step, but it is so rewarding and uplifting to feel a sense of belonging and purpose in fighting the climate crisis alongside like minded individuals. These small, local spaces are where the magic happens.

Join UK Youth For Nature’s ‘Your Wild Streets’ Campaign! 

Here at UKY4N, our Your Wild Streets Campaign demands an end to toxic pesticides being sprayed in our towns and cities. Pledging to contact your councillor over this issue is a great way to start standing up for nature in your community. Councillors seeing the message in their inbox sends a clear message that their constituents care about what kind of world we want to live in.