With the advent of the factory farm and the onset of globalization, buying locally produced food has been somewhat of a trade-off for the modern consumer. Sure, we all know that local food is fresh food, but with an always open mega-chain supermarket right down the road, who has the time, or money, to shop local? All of us, that’s who.

Naturalist, author, and environmental educator “Wildman” Steve Brill,America’s go-to guy for foraging, has just released a master series of foraging apps, WildEdibles, that will give iPhone users the in-depth information they need to identify, ecologically harvest, and use 165 of the best wild edible and medicinal plants of North America, plus essential details of 52 look-alikes. The focus will be on eastern species, but half the plants and many more very similar close relatives that are also edible grow across the country.

It’s a reflex by now: I look out the train window and mentally check off the edible and medicinal plants I see. Today there’s burdock, red clover blossoms, dandelions, plantain, wild carrot, nettles. All of those are edible and medicinal as well. Food? Check. Field first aid? Check. There’s a baseline security to being able to identify wild edible and medicinal plants.

I fell in love with Seattle the first time I visited in the summer of 1993. I was 25 and it was my first non-business trip by myself. When I plotted out my trip, I foolishly allotted an hour for exploring Pike Place Market. I ended up spending the entire day in this foodie paradise and dropped by each day for the remainder of the trip. When I returned 10 years later, I was equally charmed.

Getting raw milk is a little bit like trying to get marijuana in this country: it’s legal in some states, and a lot of people will give you wary looks if you talk about it too much in public. In the states where it is illegal, most authorities don’t go to too much trouble to stop you using it, but every now and then a reliable supplier will suddenly go out of business for no good reason. You need weird excuses and reasons to purchase it legally. In Florida, for example, raw milk is only sold for consumption by pets, and I know there are a lot of real food enthusiasts down there whose dogs and cats are apparently living well on rich, unpasteurized milk.