‘Country gent’ Nigel Farage was enjoying a sunny October Sunday, foraging for mushrooms. He didn’t say where (this is his leisure time, after all), but posted a cheery video on X/Twitter, showing a few prize specimens picked for his lunch. “If you don’t know what you’re picking”, he said, “be careful”, then demonstrated how to peel and sniff to be sure they are safe to eat.
“Worrying!” said Simon Polkinghorn. So many people take what Mr Farage says on face value, and, quite clearly, his confidence vastly outweighs his understanding. Simon is not a fan, as shown in the portrait he painted of him above. Indeed, he never thought his first email to Nigel Farage would be mycological, but there it is! This is a matter of public safety, so he wrote:
Hello, Mr Farage,
Although I am not a local constituent of yours, I thought I should contact you urgently regarding your recent video encouraging people to forage for mushrooms. While the one you showed picking looked fine (from the video think it was agaricus augustus (known as ‘The Prince’, one of the best edible mushrooms, lucky find!), I was extremely concerned at your advice to identify edible mushrooms by peeling them.
Peeling is absolutely NOT a reliable test. Indeed, the death cap (amanita phalloides) is easily peeled, and as the name suggests, is extremely dangerous – responsible for more deaths than any other mushroom – and is quite common.
There are many features to look for when identifying fungi. I have been foraging for wild mushrooms for much of my life and I always make a point of specifically identifying anything before considering it for the table, as the consequences of a mistake can be devastating. I would urge you to delete that video and also issue a new one urging a more cautious, informed approach to a potentially rewarding pursuit.
This has nothing to do with politics, but you have a responsible position as a popular public figure with a large following, and I would urge anyone with little experience who gathers wild fungi to do so with an experienced expert and be 100 per cent positive in identification before consuming anything they find. That way they can enjoy the activity safely.
I thank you for reading this.
Kind regards
Simon Polkinghorn
[Farage…never a fun guy to be with...Ed]
