Wild Food Walk

Wild Food Walks, curated by Forgotten Greens, are immersive experience that empower city-dwellers to collectively learn about and engage with their edible ecosystems.

These walks have been held in cities such as Bengaluru, Delhi, Coimbatore, Surat, Mumbai, Chennai, Udaipur, and Cape Town.

The walk invites participants to explore the wild edible and medicinal plants growing in and around their immediate surroundings. Rooted in local landscapes and everyday ecologies, the workshop introduces participants to the deep interconnections between plants, people, and places.

The walk encourages curiosity about environments we often overlook, highlighting how urban and semi-wild spaces sustain diverse forms of life and knowledge. Participants are invited to slow down, listen, taste, and observe—developing a more attentive relationship with the land and the plants that nourish us.

Forgotten Greens, founded by Shruti Tharayil in 2018, is a research and education initiative focused on reviving the fast-disappearing traditions of consuming uncultivated edible plants in India.

What began as a Facebook page sharing the joy of discovering wild edible plants in everyday surroundings has evolved into a dynamic, research-led project exploring the intersections of biodiversity, food systems, traditional ecological knowledge, and social justice.

Through ethnographic research, workshops, publications, and experiential learning formats such as Wild Food Walks, Forgotten Greens documents and shares knowledge around uncultivated edible and medicinal plants, their seasonal cycles, culinary practices, and cultural significance.

Its programmes engage diverse audiences, from students and urban nature enthusiasts to permaculturists, educators, researchers, and food practitioners, encouraging more attentive and ethical relationships with plants, food, land, and the commons.

Shruti Tharayil

Shruti Tharayil is an educator, writer, and independent researcher whose work sits at the intersection of biodiversity, caste, and food systems. Her practice is shaped by more than a decade of grassroots engagement and by journeying alongside Indigenous, Dalit, and pastoral communities across South India.

These long-term relationships have informed her approach to ethical research, reciprocity, place-based knowledge, and collaborative storytelling.

As the founder of Forgotten Greens, Shruti works to decolonise and reimagine how we understand plants, food, and ecological knowledge. She also consults with diverse projects and communities on education and food systems, while continuing to explore slow, embodied forms of research and storytelling.

In early 2024, she undertook a solo cycling journey of over 700 kilometres across three states in South India, documenting lesser-known food practices and engaging with communities along the way.

The journey further deepened her interest in research rooted in movement, observation, conversation, and lived experience.