Meet the 'urban forager' who spends just £5-a-week on shop-bought food by eating wild mushrooms and seafood - which he picks up from city parks and streets. <br /><br />Christian Amys, 41, started foraging during lockdown and is self-taught in what to find.<br /><br />Now he eats a diet of 50 per cent foraged food - finding mushrooms, onion, leeks and even seafood from Brighton's city streets.<br /><br />Christian gets the rest of his food from supermarkets and farms.<br /><br />He estimates he saves £50-a-week on food by foraging and will spend £5 to £10-a-week on essentials like coffee, milk, pasta and toilet roll.<br /><br />Christian, a professional forager, who lives in Brighton, East Sussex, said: "During lockdown, I completely focused on foraging.<br /><br />"I had so much time to walk in the wild and I saw a lot of people doing the same.<br /><br />"I would say 50% of my food is foraged. If I am honest, if I had more time to forage it would probably be a lot more.<br /><br />"I will spend around £5 to £10 on a food shop a week. If I am going home to eat I will pop round some forage spots."<br /><br />Christian quit his job as a chef in March 2020 and decided to make a career from foraging - because he wanted to incorporate his passion into his life.<br /><br />He will often walk around Brighton's busy streets and parks searching for his next meal. Looking out for mushrooms and plants.<br /><br />Christian said: "I have replaced most of my diet with mushrooms. I would much rather have mushrooms than meat.<br /><br />"We do all our forages in the city or just outside the city. We forage in parks and around the city centre.<br /><br />"It's all about living a sustainable life. Last year we ran out of leeks in supermarkets.<br /><br />"I went to my mates garden and foraged 15 kilos of leeks and started giving them out to people.<br /><br />"Why are we worrying about running out of things in supermarkets when we can forage and get them for free?"<br /><br />Christian believes he has saved thousands over the years as he regularly only spends no more than £10 on a food shop to buy the essentials.<br /><br />He said: "I rarely ever go to the supermarket, it is just the stables I get from there like tea and coffee.<br /><br />"Over the years I have saved thousands. I am saving £50 a week on a food shop.<br /><br />"There is a Back rock cliff in Brighton that I call my supermarket. When I go up there I will fill a basket with foraged foods." <br /><br />Christian said people need to be careful when foraging and to avoid picking food from busy streets.<br /><br />He said: "If you're not 100 per cent sure what something is then don't eat it - don't munch a hunch.<br /><br />"Some people might pick something and guess what it is, which can be dangerous.<br /><br />"We follow the rules. If I am picking a mushroom I will pick at it a few times before making the decision to eat it. <br /><br />"If your edible mushroom is dirty you can make it safe by washing it off.<br /><br />"For example, you want to avoid harvesting any foods from a busy road, especially mushrooms. If it is a busy road they can absorb exhaust fumes."<br /><br />Now, Christian runs Urban Forage and uses his knowledge to help other people - running weekly workshops.<br /><br />He said: "In April 2021 I did my first forage workshop, we showed people how to find wild garlic, mushrooms and seas vegetables - seaweeds that can be eaten and used for culinary purposes.<br /><br />"We run two workshops a week where we take a group of 10 to 20 people and show them how to safely identify food."<br /><br />Examples of food Christian cooks:<br />- Hogweed slider <br />- Three-cornered leek and potato soup<br />- Wild garlic and nettle bread<br />- Seared beef steak mushroom <br /><br />Examples of food Christian forages:<br />- Wild mushroom<br />- Sea vegetables <br />- Seaweed<br />- Nuts <br />- Cherry plums <br />- Strawberries <br />- Elderberries <br />- Herbs<br /><br />Tips for foraging:<br />- Get a really good foraging book <br />- Enjoy it<br />- Research good foraging spots
