Expert urges people to eat from plants that grow along US roadsides: 'The abundance is real'

A YouTube forager is turning heads by showing just how easy it is to find a "winter supply" of food growing right on the side of the road.

The video features a man in Connecticut filling a one-gallon bucket with berries from a loaded autumn olive bush in just minutes.

Here is the deal. This isn't just some random bush. It is the autumn olive. While the name sounds about as threatening as a grumpy Shih Tzu puppy dressed like an elf, this plant is technically a very naughty ecological invader. That also happens to be quite delicious. The man demonstrates the effortless harvest, stripping branches clean.

"These trees easily have a winter supply of autumn berries for a whole family," he says in the clip.

To be fair, free food that tastes like candy sounds too good to be true. But these berries are the real deal. They are tart, sweet, and packed with nutrients.

You might be thinking, "Free berries? What is the problem?" Well, here is the deal. The autumn olive is a bully. Native to Asia and introduced to the U.S. in the 1830s, it has a nasty habit of taking over. It crowds out native plants that local wildlife depend on.

Eating them is a super easy and tasty act of conservation. Every berry you snack on is one less seed a bird can spread. It is a rare scenario where satisfying your sweet tooth actually helps the planet.

Beyond being a free snack, these berries are a nutritional powerhouse. According to reports on similar foraging finds, they contain up to 20 times more lycopene than a tomato. Some foragers even compare the taste to Fruit Roll-Ups.

For anyone interested in trying this out, there is helpful advice on identifying autumn olive berries and using them in recipes.

Protecting our food supply starts with maintaining a diverse ecosystem. Invasive species threaten that balance by outcompeting native plants for resources. By foraging invasives, we can help restore that balance and drive progress toward a cleaner, safer future.

What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time ⏳ Not enough space 🤏 It seems too hard 😬 I have a garden already 😎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Online, the reaction to the roadside buffet was mixed.

"You better wash the diesel residual off of them," one commenter warned.

"The abundance is real!" another user added.

One viewer summed it up perfectly: "Wish you were my nephew! I would take you on a road trip with me."

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