About
Our mission here at Invasivore is to be your one-stop guide for devouring Invasive Species, those organisms which have been moved around the world, damaging their new surroundings. Think of it as reasonable revenge for the harm these species cause. The word “invasivore” comes from combining “Invasive Species” with the latin for “devour” as in “carnivore”. Thus invasivore = one who eats invasive species.
From prehistoric times, humans have had an amazing track-record of severely reducing the populations of species we eat. Indeed, it seems that much of the time we can’t stop ourselves. Can we tap that hunger to reduce the impacts of harmful invasive species? We think the answer is Yes!
Of course, the reality is more complicated than “if you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em!” and this blog will explore the many dimensions of this issue in ways we hope will surprise you- and your taste buds. Our organizing principle is the knowledge –courage even- to harvest, prepare and consume invasive species. It is this awareness we think will lead to decreasing the impacts of invasive species by preventing new introductions, reducing spread, and encouraging informed management policies.
At the center of the Invasivore approach are recipes proudly featuring invasive species. But that’s not all; you can also expect exposition and commentary on related topics such as species’ profiles, histories and cultural significance, harvesting tips, interviews with Invasivores-at-large, and summaries of relevant scientific research. We’ll also be doing round-ups of applicable news and other media to keep our readers informed.
This blog is an experiment for us, and we hope it inspires and supports you in experimenting as well- by keeping invasive species on your mind and on your plate.
Want to learn more about the editors of Invasivore.org? Check out our bios page.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant # NSF-DGE-0504495 to the GLOBES interdisciplinary training program at the University of Notre Dame.
March 1st, 2011 at 6:15 am
Great website!
Over here in Bermuda we have been tackling the lionfish invasion with a coordinated management plan, including promotion of their consumption in restaurants.
the following local news tells the tale
http://bernews.com/2010/12/lionfish-eating-em-to-beat-em/
March 2nd, 2011 at 5:06 pm
The Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR) website has extensive resources about invasive species, including species information pages for taxa not only in Hawaii, but worldwide, including many invasive species.
Please consider including links to our pages as a regular feature when highlighting particular species on your site. See:
http://www.hear.org/species/
Also, let us know if there are particularly relevant links that we might add to our pages to highlight important information about these species that we may have missed!
Aloha,
Philip Thomas
pt@hear.org
Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR)
http://www.hear.org
March 3rd, 2011 at 6:00 pm
It may be a good idea, but I’d like to see more research on it because of the tenacious survivability invasive plants. Issues with invasive plants include changing soil biology, shading out native plants, and loss of native wildlife, and ultra-developed reproductive capabilities. All these factor together to overtake habitats rapidly. Even if cultivated on farms, invasive plants can migrate into adjacent areas. That being said, invasive plants provide food and supplements. Resveratrol is derived from knotweed, and has been tested on rats as an anti-inflammatory. As well, there may be areas that will not support native plants, while invasives may survive.
March 3rd, 2011 at 9:26 pm
We agree the more research is needed. In fact, the experiment, writ large is already underway with species like Lionfish and Asain Carp.
March 4th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Just to be clear, at invasivore.org, we are NOT advocating the introduction of any invasive species, no matter how delicious our recipes may be. We are simply suggesting that invasivory may be a way to make the best of a bad situation and maybe learn a little bit in the process. As outlined in our recent editorial, http://invasivore.org/2011/02/whyinvasivory/ , we believe knowledge is essential to preventing further introduction and spread of invasive species. So let’s keep the conversation going, keeping invasive species on our plates and on our minds!
March 6th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Yes. Invasive species is the one of the major threats to our native biodiversity. I think eradication/prevention of invasive species is the one of the main step in ecological and biological conservation.
“We have to stop species introductions to new locations to conserve our biodiversity”
March 8th, 2011 at 8:56 am
I love the website. We have certainly hunted or eaten native species out of existence…it is about time we put our ‘bad’ habit to good use. I posted you on our (Center for Invasive Species & Ecosystem Health) blog.http://bugwood.blogspot.com/2011/03/eat-invasive-species.html
March 8th, 2011 at 8:58 am
Check out our image database if your ever need a picture. They are free to use for educational purposes. We just ask that they be properly cited. Over 138,000 images and growing. http://images.bugwood.org/
March 18th, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Aloha from Hawaii! There are lots of invasivores here, whether we know it or not, because all of our game animals and many of our plants are invasive. I would love to start up a local chapter or group like this, to start getting the word out about invasive species, and also provide some benefit for food sustainability and conservation of native species. I would also be willing to contribute stories, info and recipes from Hawaii.
Keep up the good work!
April 9th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I like the angle of looking at it that Karan Rawlins and the 2nd paragraph of this post suggest: Maybe sometimes two wrongs do make a right!
I think that’s even better than making the best of a bad situation– it’s making the best of two bad situations! Two problems solve each other!
Of course the true situation is much more complex than that, but I think a lot of the underlying appeal of invasivory is implicitly derived from that concept.
July 26th, 2011 at 8:06 am
[...] fact, there’s a whole new website devoted to the invasivore cause, and it’s full of recipes and information about eating invasive plants and [...]
August 13th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
[...] notions of food farming and its associated vorisms (such as omnivore, localvore, and my new fancy, invasivore.) One advisor styled me a “voracious learner” and she is right on the mark: I feast [...]
February 18th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
[...] up in the yard or garden. While looking for recipes about how to use this plant, we came across invasivore.org, a blog that includes recipes and links. We’ll let the writers speak for themselves: photo of [...]
March 20th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
LOVE WHAT YOU DO~JOIN US!!!!
Rethinking ‘Invasive Species’: Environmentalism Gone Awry? 2012 Conference
The ever expanding war on ‘invasive species’ is giving ‘green cover’ to the widespread use of inadequately tested pesticides that threaten the health of the very soil and water that sustain all life.
It is time to reexamine the underlying assumptions and motivations for this campaign and explore creative rather than destructive responses to changes in our environment.
Mark your calendar to join environmentalists, policy makers, lawyers, and other concerned citizens at the upcoming conference Rethinking ‘Invasive Species’ : Environmentalism Gone Awry? to discuss this important issue!
October 7 & 8, 2012
University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law
The conference will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and will be held-most appropriately-on Columbus Day when, in 1492, the ecosystems of the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Worlds were forever transformed.
This event is being planned and sponsored by Fearless Fund http://www.fearlessfund.info/
For more information, contact info@fearlessfund.info.
‘The war on “invasive species” has been founded more on ideology than science. A conference examining the question is much needed and long overdue.’
~Michael Pollan
Author of The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.
March 20th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
LOVE WHAT YOU DO! JOIN US!!!
Rethinking ‘Invasive Species’: Environmentalism Gone Awry? 2012 Conference
The ever expanding war on ‘invasive species’ is giving ‘green cover’ to the widespread use of inadequately tested pesticides that threaten the health of the very soil and water that sustain all life.
It is time to reexamine the underlying assumptions and motivations for this campaign and explore creative rather than destructive responses to changes in our environment.
Mark your calendar to join environmentalists, policy makers, lawyers, and other concerned citizens at the upcoming conference Rethinking ‘Invasive Species’ : Environmentalism Gone Awry? to discuss this important issue!
October 7 & 8, 2012
University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law
The conference will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and will be held-most appropriately-on Columbus Day when, in 1492, the ecosystems of the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Worlds were forever transformed.
This event is being planned and sponsored by Fearless Fund http://www.fearlessfund.info/
For more information, contact info@fearlessfund.info.
The war on “invasive species” has been founded more on ideology than science. A conference examining the question is much needed and long overdue.
~Michael Pollan
Author of The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.
February 5th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
[...] Species: Just Eat Them! About | Invasivore.org I just ran across this web site that is dedicated to the notion that one way to deal with invasive [...]
March 6th, 2013 at 4:54 pm
Hey invasivores! I love your website but coming from a usability standpoint, a recipe index would be nice. Just a simple button that says ‘recipes’ with a list by topic. Maybe I am missing something? … Otherwise great work and an interesting read.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:24 am
Have you checked out the “Browse Species and Recipes” section under “Features” on the right hand side of the page? Any suggestions on how we could organize the list to make it more accessible?
March 30th, 2013 at 9:43 am
Hey folks, did you catch the ‘eat a lionfish’ bit on Shark Tank last night?
http://sharktankblog.com/lionfish-in-the-shark-tank/
April 21st, 2013 at 10:49 pm
Eating invasives is something we do at our group, PlantForagers, to which I want to recommend you check out. You can join, even as a trial to see how you like it. It has authors, a full-time career forager, authors from New York to New Zealand, is the world’s most active Yahoo plant foraging group, and has many other features. So, I thought I should post about it here, given the potentially synergistic commonalities I’m seeing w/your site.
Thank you.
Sam Schaperow, M.S.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PlantForagers