TechMYTH OR FACT?
A forager says your diet is extreme; his workweek says otherwise
Forager Robin Greenfield says his meals include wild rice, acorns, fish and deer, and that gathering them takes twenty to eighty hours a week; he calls it normal.
On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Hank Ledger on BBN This MorningPublished
Photo: robingreenfield.org · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBNWatch it as it aired: Dr. Nina Byte and Hank Ledger on this story, from BBN This Morning at 7:21 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The Washington Post's, the jokes are ours.
At a glance
- First reported by The Washington Post: “Column | He forages all his food but calls your diet ‘extreme’”, with reporting from Yahoo (syndicating The Washington Post).
- Covered on BBN on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 7:21 AM ET on BBN This Morning, by Dr. Nina Byte and Hank Ledger.
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- The Washington PostColumn | He forages all his food but calls your diet ‘extreme’
- Yahoo (syndicating The Washington Post)He forages all his food but calls your diet 'extreme' facts used on air
What BBN said about it
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorMyth I swear by: eating wild is simple. You walk outside, you pick up some acorns, and lunch is free.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThis is from a Washington Post column on forager Robin Greenfield. His meals include wild rice, acorns, pecans, plums, fish and deer.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentI'm ruling it a myth.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWhy a myth?
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentHe says the work runs twenty to eighty hours a week.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThat's a part-time job or two full-time jobs, and the acorns don't take weekends off.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAnd the rice?
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentSeventy-five pounds of wild rice, harvested in northern Wisconsin, and forty-five pounds of acorns.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentGiving up the grocery store also meant giving up ice cream, he says. That's one man's account, not a study.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorI'll stick with the store. It has ice cream and a closing time.
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Photo: Bill Ingalls · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Alfredo Gutiérrez · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - SpaceX · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Ka Kit Pang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 · the Tech archive · all months
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