Our Story
At the Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis, Gil Schwartz discusses using cattails for food during a workshop on wild edibles.
While Seasonally Sourced Foods (SSF) is a relatively new business, in some ways it has been many years in incubation.
At a young age, founder, Gil Schwartz tromped around urban Minneapolis and rural Germany, plucking, digging up, and enjoying wild grapes and strawberries, cattails and dandelion, and participating in inspiring demonstrations on turning acorns into bread and maple sap into syrup. Over the years his interest in wild foods became a passion, broadening out to include many other amazing wild plants, edible mushrooms, culinary insects, and game animals. With countless hours harvesting and experimenting in the kitchen with these foods, Gil enjoys eating wild on a near-daily basis and sharing these edibles as often as possible.
Having moved to Ashland, WI, in spring of 2013 to be closer to Lake Superior and the great outdoors, Gil experienced some success that summer selling juneberries and other wild foods locally and became aware of the public's eagerness to try these often overlooked, culinary jewels.
At a young age, founder, Gil Schwartz tromped around urban Minneapolis and rural Germany, plucking, digging up, and enjoying wild grapes and strawberries, cattails and dandelion, and participating in inspiring demonstrations on turning acorns into bread and maple sap into syrup. Over the years his interest in wild foods became a passion, broadening out to include many other amazing wild plants, edible mushrooms, culinary insects, and game animals. With countless hours harvesting and experimenting in the kitchen with these foods, Gil enjoys eating wild on a near-daily basis and sharing these edibles as often as possible.
Having moved to Ashland, WI, in spring of 2013 to be closer to Lake Superior and the great outdoors, Gil experienced some success that summer selling juneberries and other wild foods locally and became aware of the public's eagerness to try these often overlooked, culinary jewels.
A delicious discovery of lion's mane mushrooms near Lake Superior
But living in the Northwoods during this time period wasn't all easy-going. With a proposed mine intent on extracting iron taconite from miles of the sacred Penokee Hills mountain ridge and a proposed 26,000-hog factory farm along the Fish Creek, both of which were slated to be downwind of Ashland and in the Lake Superior watershed, the threats to this mostly pristine environment were mounting. These industries kept touting a "jobs, jobs, jobs" mantra--as if adding a few dozen new jobs to the regional economy would make up for the devastation that would be left in their wake. The local resistance to these proposed industries and advocacy for creative ecologically-sustainable, economic alternatives was instrumental in the creation of Seasonally Sourced Foods.
With a clear desire in the local market for professionally harvested wild edibles and a thirst in the community for more education about these foods, Gil knew the time was right to start Seasonally Sourced Foods. After months of research and planning SSF was registered as an LLC in early 2015.
It has been exciting to showcase the perennial abundance of the region and we look forward to moving into the future with many more harvests.
With a clear desire in the local market for professionally harvested wild edibles and a thirst in the community for more education about these foods, Gil knew the time was right to start Seasonally Sourced Foods. After months of research and planning SSF was registered as an LLC in early 2015.
It has been exciting to showcase the perennial abundance of the region and we look forward to moving into the future with many more harvests.