Skip to main content

Toronto parks are no place for foragers, city warns residents

Not long ago we learned from a long-time forager about his adventure through Toronto's parks. Here's a warning.
Foraging is fun, but it is also dangerous. Make yourself aware of the dangers, if you plan to indulge.
Picking a batch of mushrooms from one of Toronto’s parks could add an exotic accent to a steak dinner. Depending on the mushroom you pick, that dinner could also send you on a hallucinogenic spiral, throw you into a seizure, send your blood-pressure soaring, or worst-case scenario, put you on a short list for a liver transplant. And other supposedly-edibles that are found in the city’s ravines and forested areas aren’t much safer, according to Dr. Margaret Thompson, Medical Director at the Ontario Poison Centre. “We’ve had calls from patients who thought they were picking wild parsnips and ended up having seizures — patients who thought they were picking wild leeks who ended up with gastrointestinal problems,” said Thompson in an interview Friday, July 31.

Anyone with health concerns with eating mushrooms should call the Ontario Poison Centre at 416-813-5900.

Sources / More info: Toronto parks are no place for foragers, city warns residents
[tags: foraging, mushrooms, shrooms, wild, food, parks]

Comments

Popular Articles

Condo proposals as art

Two artists have started trolling Old City Hall (and, presumably, other sites) with fake “Development Proposal” signs as a commentary on the condo boom.

TPA blames Police Chief Mark Saunders

The story of police understaffing has been somehow dominating the headlines for quite a while. Although there are far more police per capita in Toronto than in London for instance, Toronto police officers are reportedly so “demoralized” that they took a symbolic vote against Chief Mark Saunders.

The Upcoming Property Tax Hike

The pressure to increase property taxes seems to be increasing in Toronto. That outcome is strongly resented by most members of our community.

Subscribe Now!

Subscribe in a reader, or by email:
Your email: