If you’ve ever foraged for mushrooms or berries locally, it’s possible you’ve encountered Gabrielle Cerberville. Also known as Chaotic Forager or the internet’s Mushroom Auntie, Cerberville is a foraging influencer on social media as well as a composer, community mycologist, and climate advocate. She recently published Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life, a book that shares Cerberville’s own relationship with foraging—from humble brags to instructive mishaps—as well as a philosophical framework for foraging, advice for those developing their practice, and recipes. With cheerful self-deprecation and a storytelling style echoing her peripatetic explorations, Gathered is a tribute to curiosity, humility, and our capacity to notice. Cerberville recently discussed her work with C-VILLE.
C-VILLE: How did Chaotic Forager come into being as an identity and social media presence for you?
Gabrielle Cerberville: Social media started as a pandemic hobby for me. I had just moved from Indianapolis to Michigan to start my master’s degree … left all my foraging spots behind, which led to long days spent hunting for new ones. It seemed like it might be fun to start making little educational videos about my journey, and after a few months, I suddenly found myself with a viral hit in the form of a giant puffball mushroom. From there, it just sort of took off. I realized that people were hungry for good information about foraging, and I had the skills to give them that information…