A couple have revealed they spend just $50 a week on groceries by eating street killers and wild plants.
Eric Joseph Lewis, 41, of Knoxville, Maryland, and his girlfriend Jess Russell, 26, insist everyone should “treat plants like people” and encourage people to forage for food.
Eric and Jess also eat street killers like possums, marmots, squirrels and the occasional wild turkey or duck and often make wild berry smoothies.
This way, the couple only goes to the grocery store for special drinks and treats, while only spending $50 on them.
Eric Joseph Lewis, 41, of Knoxville, Maryland, and his girlfriend Jess Russell, 26, revealed they spend just $50 a week on groceries by eating street killers and wild plants
Eric and Jess also eat street killers like possums, marmots, squirrels and the occasional wild turkey or duck and often make wild berry smoothies
This way, the couple only goes to the grocery store for special drinks and treats, while only spending $50 on them
Foraging 101! Eric’s top tips for beginning collectors
- Treat the plants like people
- Eat something wild every day
- Learn about different plants
- Harvest crops that benefit the ecology
Speaking to The Mirror, the couple explained how their unique diet keeps them from spending hundreds of dollars at the supermarket.
Eric said, “I eat wild food every day and grow a lot of it.” We should treat plants like people. We eat roadkill.
“If you can overcome the fear and uneasiness that it’s a dead animal, you can recognize that it was a life of freedom and respect it.”
The 41-year-old noted that instead of letting the killed animal rot, the couple use it as bone broth to feed their dog, Leela, and even process it into leather.
“A deer might have 60 to 100 pounds of meat — about 60,000 calories.” “Nothing had to die for that,” he told the outlet.
Eric started learning about yoga and meditation in his late 20s and lived in a tent.
He worked as a painter one day a week to help set up his grocery store.
It wasn’t until a close friend told him he lived in a blueberry patch that Eric became interested in the different plants that animals can eat.
The 41-year-old noted that instead of letting street killers rot, the couple use them as bone broth to feed their dog, Leela, and even make into leather
Eric started learning about yoga and meditation in his late 20s and lived in a tent
Now, two decades later, Eric lives in a nursery. He grows fruit, nut trees and edible plants (wild foods that Eric prepared are shown).
Now, two decades later, Eric lives in a nursery. He grows fruit trees, nut trees and edible plants.
Eric said, “I’m eating nettles, Sochan — that’s the same family as a black-eyed Susan — and sunflowers.”
“Now for the berries – we have it in smoothies half the year.” “We pick goumi berries and blackberries.”
During the colder months of Maryland, Eric travels to Florida where he gathers mushrooms and sets traps to catch wild animals like pigs and iguanas.
He also often goes fishing and catches catfish.
The self-proclaimed “mushroom enthusiast” revealed that he and Jess seek out mushrooms like morels and grouse mushrooms.
During the colder months of Maryland, Eric travels to Florida where he gathers mushrooms and cleans up trash for wildlife like pigs and iguanas
At home, they often eat a meal made with homegrown onions, sweet potatoes, and chayote, garnished with a wild mushroom they have collected
Eric and Jess still go to the grocery store to buy things like kombucha, coconut yogurt, lentils, rice, and other goodies — and spend about $50 a week (pictured: homemade pecan butter, wild blueberry jam, and bananas).
He also said he even teaches his pup how to pick mushrooms.
In addition to mushrooms, the couple also often photograph coconuts and avocados.
At home, they often eat a meal made with homegrown onions, sweet potatoes, and chayote, garnished with a wild mushroom they have collected.
Eric and Jess still go to the grocery store to buy things like kombucha, coconut yogurt, lentils, rice, and other goodies — though they only spend about $50 a week.
He told the outlet, “We spend $50 a week between Jess and I. We get sweet drinks and treats. If we only got what we needed it would be $20.”