Q&A


Living off the land, or “get off my land!”


Ts Mr shcraft is oce aai stei ot of the scree ad taki himself o a lethy, delayed-from-2021 UK tour, including dates in Aberystwyth and Brecon in its closing stages.


– Ray Mears has some thoughts ts titled We Are Nature ad thats hat he ad Carl Marsh spoke about, sort of.


People often think of survivalists, explorers, and other types who do what you do as being primarily ex-mil- itary.  fact, ve alays fod that the better-skilled ones are non-military. As someone from that background, it be-


rdes me to say so or eve thik it I’ve worked a lot with the military, and as you and I know, what the public thinks and the mil- itary think are two different things. The military understands what their weaknesses are. The weakness with those in [Army] survival is that these people are in the job for two years, and then they move on: you can barely begin to learn the subject.


to help them; that’s been a joy. We all keep quiet, so that they just get on with it. I’ve worked a lot with the Forces, and I don’t really talk a lot about it, but it is a real privilege to do so. I have the highest regard for them and their abilities.


But that’s why they bring people in like me


May eole have bee rediscoveri nature over the last two years mainly due to having to stick to local areas, and I know that eating off the land has be-


come quite popular, and so has vegan- ism. So, when you are teaching bush- craft, how do you approach the subject of not eating meat, if at all? Well, it’s a fad, isn’t it? And the powers of a fad is that people have forgotten how to cook meat, or can’t be bothered to, or they’re living alone, and they find it’s too much hassle to try and cook meat in small quantities. Because quite frankly, very few supermarkets are tailored for the solo cook. So, it can be all of those things. But, ob- viously, there are greater environmental con- cerns that confuse the issue. I’ve no axe to grind, people should eat whatever they want to eat. It doesn’t bother me in the least.


ve soke to ite a fe ractisi doctors, and TV diet expert Michael Mosley, and they all say the same thing:


yove alays ot to have meat. When you look in the mirror and look at your


There will be people out there who are zealots


teeth, you can see that we are all omnivores. The clue is there. Indeed, if you’re trying to live off the land, you are going to struggle if you’re not eating meat.


who will disagree with me, but they never put it to the test because they will fail. In really cold weather, it’s hard to find enough vegetables to eat and stay warm. It’s not like at home where you’ve got access to supermarkets.


Yet people still think foraging is the way to go.


Foraging has become a big thing. And I’m a lit- tle worried that people think that food is for free. There is a great book, by Richard Mabey, and that’s called Food For Free… but nothing in na- ture is free. Working with Native American peo- ple, you quickly realise they’re very careful with resources, and how they use them so that they don’t overexploit them. There’s always a cost.


Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Tue 5 Apr. Tickets: /.. Info: aberystwythartscentre.co.uk;


Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, Wed 6 Apr. Tickets: ./. Info: brycheiniog.co.uk


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