A professional herbalist based in Okehampton is preparing to embark on a challenge where she can only eat foraged food for three months.

In April, Jenny Porrett will be part of the Wildbiome 2 Project that is investigating how an exclusively wild food diet affects the human body.

The Wildbiome 2 Project is a citizen science experiment backed by the Universities of Bradford and Rzeszów that will see over 100 foragers across the country eat solely wild food for either one month or three months starting on April 1 2025.

Alongside consuming foraged goods from Dartmoor and the surrounding areas, Jenny will be having regular health checks to monitor her gut health, blood sugar, liver function and more.

Jenny, owner of Dartmoor Apothecary, said: “As a herbalist I find it easier to recognise edible wild foods but it still takes a lot of preparation. I’ve been collecting herbs for almost a year for the project such as foraging nuts, processing them and drying herbs but there is always a bit of a worry that there won’t be enough food. It is terrifying.

“I will be relying on a lot of roots, chestnut flour and wild garlic for calories as well as sustainably culled venison because we can eat anything found in the wild. Some people are eating squirrel and pigeon but I draw the line there.”

Jenny’s friends and family are big supporters of her endeavour to discover more about how wild food can affect the bodily positively and what changes it can make.

She continued: “There’s a birthday celebration I’ve got to go to and i’m not sure how it’s going to go down with me bringing dried mushrooms to eat instead of cake!”

Jenny became interested in herbology and the Wildbiome 2 project after her own experience in using foraged goods to improve her chronic fatigue and autoimmune diseases.

She is still a firm believer in the use of traditional health methods such as antibiotics and prescription medications but is eager to use this experience to better inform her own herbal practice and pass findings on to patients.

“I'm keen to see what changes really happen to the body when you exists on a 'hunter gatherer's diet’. However one thing this study has already shown me is what a depleted state our hedgerows, woodlands and rivers are in.”

Jenny has been working with other foragers who are taking part in the Wildbiome 2 project, mailing nuts and leaves to each other.

“I’ve got to post a kilo of fresh wild garlic to someone in Guernsey because it’s rare to find patches of it there but here there’s miles and miles of it,” she said. “I’m hoping it gets there safely in the next few days.”

The end results of the gut microbiome changes will be published later in the year.

Jenny is aiming to raise £700 to cover the costs of the full medical assessments and to support this citizen science project, to donate visit: https://gofund.me/92313447