North Bay couple surviving on foraged food have rediscovered the joys of food aromas and flavours
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Expositor will be checking in regularly with this couple who have ties to Manitoulin Island as they embark on their Big Wild Year challenge. This is the second monthly update since they began.
NORTH BAY—Delphanie Colyer and Jeremy St. Onge’s Big Wild Year challenge is entering its third month and the couple says they both feel really good, both about the challenge and their physical health.
“We’ve looked at six significant results from our bloodwork that we had done on day 50,” said Mr. St. Onge. “My blood sugar and cholesterol have gone down. I have slightly above the recommended level of lead, but I’ll be talking to my doctor because we’re not sure if that’s from the diet or environmental. My blood pressure is down and my resting heart rate is down.”
Ms. Colyer said her results were nearly identical. She added that they have been receiving lots of positive feedback on their social media updates and that has helped to keep them excited to continue the challenge. Mr. St. Onge clarified that the New York research student who was looking to document their experience, as previously reported in this newspaper, was actually interested in their opinions on the foraging process.
At this point, supplies look to be holding out okay.
“We’re running a little low on greens,” said Ms. Colyer. “I packaged things up into what I thought would be serving sizes, which I estimated would have high nutrient value. But it’s not super filling, so sometimes it takes more than that individual package.”
She says the meat supplies are holding up well and their freezer is amply stocked. They still have plenty of mushrooms but their fiddlehead and nettle supplies are dwindling. Ms. Colyer says their leek supply is also down, but they still have a big container of dried leeks to use.
“We just have to get a little bit more creative with some meals,” she said.
One item which Mr. St. Onge is surprised at is the berry supplies. He figured those would be the first items to run out, but Ms. Colyer says her appetite for berries has waned considerably since the beginning.
The same reduction in appetite occurred with salt. The couple initially thought that their food didn’t taste right, but upon starting to use some salt gathered from Mr. St. Onge’s trip to Grenada, they have experienced an opposite sensation.
“If you’ve ever over-salted something, you’ve experienced that burning sensation. Now, even a little bit of salt elicits that response. Our taste buds have definitely adapted to what initially may have seemed more bland, but now you appreciate everything’s flavour on its own,” said Ms. Colyer.
Rather interesting is another physiological effect Mr. St. Onge has experienced. He previously lacked most of his sense of smell, something he said has come back strongly.
“It’s like a smelling safari for me. I couldn’t even smell the toaster before. That’s been a big improvement for me, my sinuses have gotten so much better,” Mr. St. Onge said.
Ms. Colyer said she has been enjoying two new kinds of meat more than she may have expected—bear and raccoon.
“Bear is so good. I have to really stop myself from overeating because it tastes so good,” she said. “I was completely turned off by the raccoon, I thought there was no way I was going to eat it. As time goes on, it just becomes your food, so when Jer cooked it up a couple weeks ago I was definitely game to try it and it’s delectable. So good. That’s another thing I’d definitely eat a lot of throughout the year.”
Ms. Colyer added that one thing that has become tiresome is having to cook two meals—one for her children and then a special meal for herself.
“When I’m done that, I really don’t feel like cleaning all the pots and pans and starting my meal. Once it’s done I still enjoy my food, but there’s been a lot of times when I think I’d rather just eat theirs. But that’s just out of laziness, it’s got nothing to do with me being tired of our food. It’s just a little more work,” said Ms. Colyer.
“I find cooking for my kids, in a way, helps me overcome the things I’m craving. A bacon omelette with cheese sounds so good, but when I make it I’m satisfied with the process that it’s still there in my life even if I’m not eating it,” said Mr. St. Onge.
Ms. Colyer joked that there are always treats lying around during her night shifts as a nurse.
“I picked up a plate of chocolate brownies and someone said, ‘don’t do that to yourself!’ I took a big whiff and put it down. Who doesn’t love the smell of chocolate? Those things are still satisfying without having to have a taste.”
This experiment has also offered the couple different perspectives on how intertwined food is with other rituals of modern life.
“In February, I did my first road trip since being on the diet. That was a weird experience because you usually allow yourself to have road trip food so when you stop you get pepperettes, a bag of chips, coffee or a chocolate bar. That was a bit odd to do a big, long drive without doing that stuff,” said Ms. Colyer, describing her trip to Manitoulin Island in early February.
Mr. St. Onge estimated that he had saved at least $300 compared to his grocery bills for the same time last year. Last year’s figures included toiletries, pharmacy and alcohol because it could all be purchased at the one grocery store, and both figures include the regular food he is purchasing for his children. That equates to a roughly 40 percent reduction in his monthly bills.
For Ms. Colyer, she estimates her bills would be less than half of last year’s totals because she was still in school and would often make stops at the cafeteria during the day. The couple has taken some of their expense savings and contributed them towards food drives and a North Bay initiative called Tampon Tuesday, where organizers take feminine hygiene products to places in the city to aid homeless people who may not be able to afford these essentials.
The couple said they have also lost a lot of weight and look far thinner than they did before. Mr. St. Onge said he expects that he is close to reaching a stabilized lower weight, but said he would follow up with that metric when more data was available.
“There tends to be two camps of people. There are those that cheer on weight loss and will cheer them down to whatever weight they may achieve, whether it’s healthy or not. Others will say that we’re getting too skinny. It’s really psychological,” Mr. St. Onge said.
To follow Ms. Colyer and Mr. St Onge’s Big Wild Year, you can view their updates at Facebook.com/BigWildYear. The Expositor will be checking back with the two throughout the year to share their experiences in this unique endeavour.
