Chef René Redzepi Wants You to Forage for Your Own Food

Renowned chef René Redzepi, of Denmark’s Noma restaurant, wants people to forage for their food — and now he has an app to help people do just that.

Redzepi this week announced the launch of Vild Mad, a three-part initiative that includes an app, a website and a curriculum to teach people how to forage, according to Eater.

“Knowing your ABCs in nature, the flora and the fauna, the patterns in the landscape, and the rhythms in the seasons is as important, we believe, as learning math, learning to read, learning to write — especially today when people think cacao milk comes from brown cows,” Redzepi said while introducing the app at a symposium to mark the 15th anniversary of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Vild Mad, which is Danish for “wild food,” is a part of Redzepi’s nonprofit MAD, which hopes that the website and courses will become a model in Denmark, as people learn to forage for food. Although the curriculum on foraging is available only in the Denmark, the app is available in both Danish and English and can be downloaded on the App Store and Google Play.

Redzepi said children in particular would benefit from learning to forage, Eater reports. “What if our kids, we imagined, were able to stroll through a park and they could pick things like they go and pick cornflakes and candies in the supermarket?” he said.

Vild Mad’s curriculum will be available in Danish schools, with 50 park rangers across the country leading foraging workshops, according to a statement from MAD.