Fred Gillam

Fred Gillam, often known as Fred the Forager, has been foraging for his supper since he was a small child growing up on a country estate in Wiltshire, encouraged by both parents. He is a founder Member of the Forager's Association, and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, which is devoted to the biology and conservation of plants and fungi. His life-long passion comes in equal measure for teaching people how to identify and use both as delicious food ingredients and for use in making herbal medicines. Fred is the author of Poisonous Plants in Great Britain. He makes numerous appearances on television and radio, which have included BBC Countryfile with John Craven, ITV's For the Love of Britain, Jeremy Vine and Radio 4's Farming Today. He is a practicing Clinical Herbalist and runs a community dispensary serving the village where he lives in Wiltshire and the surrounding parishes. He also co-hosts with his partner Natascha the annual UK & Ireland Medicinal Mushrooms Conference. Fred loves to remind people to "remember to eat something wild every day" and takes great joy in simply connecting with nature, through countryside rambles, biking through green lanes, and of course cooking the wild food that he gathers when he gets home for his supper.