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]

The top 5 Giorgio Mammoliti controversies

In May 1999, back when Giorgio Mammoliti was just "George," the councillor for North York--Humber was vehemently opposed to the idea of officially allowing a clothing optional beach at Hanlan's Point, fearing it would lead to rampant public nudity in Toronto. "Today it's a secluded beach, tomorrow it will be the beachfront and then it will be the streets," he said. City council approved the idea 41-9, but Mammoliti refused to let the vote pass without a spectacle. "After removing his shirt and tie, Mammoliti briefly posed half-naked for television crews before the air-conditioning prompted him to slip a jacket over his bare, hairy chest," the Toronto Star reported. "Mammoliti declined to remove his pants." Sources / More info: The top 5 Giorgio Mammoliti controversies