Greenfield shares experiences, activism after a year of foraging

GREEN BAY – Nature is all around us, and Robin Greenfield is an environmental activist trying to bring attention to the fact that we have grown disconnected to it.

Greenfield recently completed a year of only foraging for his food and medicine in Wisconsin on Oct. 10.
“We live in a time of great- of great disconnection, of great separateness, and I believe that the separation from the Earth and the disconnection is actually one of the greatest problems of our time.” He lives a very committed life to his activism, having given up his passport, drivers license, birth certificate and social security to further connect with the planet.

He acknowledges that his lifestyle may be seen as extreme to the general public, but finds this life fulfilling. “I celebrate anybody who is doing a little bit, but a little bit’s not enough for me. I really actually want to live in a way where I’m living in harmony with this earth.”

During the year-long project he only got sick one time and found that the best way to work through it was with time rather than any medicine.

He also notes his good health could stem from drinking herbal tea consistently. When it came to food he noted that the hardest part food wise was getting enough fats.

This is not the first time Greenfield has committed to a long-term project for environmental awareness.
He has been documenting his projects since 2014, when he biked from California to Vermont completely off the grid. Some of his other notable projects include the growing your own toilet paper initiative from 2023, the trash me campaign where he wore all of the trash he created in 2016 and did it again 2022. There are a dozen more projects all documented on his website.

While he works to be more connected to the planet he has not completely abandoned modern amenities.
His friends drive him around, and he has a team that works his social media and gets him a phone whenever he needs to do interviews.

Greenfield will be travelling around Wisconsin promoting sustainable living and talking through his experiences and will be in Green Bay on Nov. 6 at the Environmental Education Annual Conference at UW-Green Bay and at The Tarlton Theatre.

If interested in learning more about his projects or upcoming events, please go to robingreenfield.org/.

Pass It Forward™ editorial is sponsored by Packers Give Back, Nicolet National Bank and the National Trust for Local News.