PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – When you’re hungry for food, you probably head to the grocery store or restaurant, but for TikTok sensation Gray Davis, the great outdoors are all he needs to satisfy his cravings. In a few short months, the 21-year-old has garnered nearly 30 million likes on his videos of him foraging for food throughout Florida.
Foraging is the act of searching for wild food resources that are suitable for human consumption. The sustainable practice has always been around, but has increased in popularity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent inflation of grocery store prices.
“I just started figuring out all the different kinds of edible plants. Once you really understand how to identify them, the possibilities are endless”, Gray explained.
Deep in the Holey Land Wildlife Management area in southwestern Palm Beach County, Davis took Local 10 News crews on one of his food foraging expeditions.
“So right down here, these daisy-white looking flowers are actually completely edible,” Davis said as he pointed to a Spanish Needle plant. “They actually taste like a more tough version of spinach or like a broccoli rabe.”
Through his videos, Davis encourages others to learn about foraging with his tagline, “get outside and see what you can find.”
“The main reason that I made that my key phrase is because being out in nature, you really develop a love that lasts and a love that makes you fight to protect it,” Davis explained.
That love for the environment was fostered by his mom and dad, who showed him the abundant bounty that wild Florida is always providing.
“Ever since I was young, my dad would take me fishing,” he said.
In fact, it was a video of him taking part in his favorite pastime, where he saw his first explosion of followers. Just last March, Davis posted a video of him catching a lobster and preparing a meal with a coconut he took from his family’s palm tree.
“So I climbed up one of the coconut palms and picked one of the coconuts off our tree in our yard. And I posted that and it just blew everybody’s mind that you could get a lobster dinner with a nice coconut water on an island for absolutely nothing,” he reflected.
It’s not just lobster and seafood on Davis’ menu. He also forages for tropical fruits, plants, and weeds that grow all over South Florida. Davis boasts of having over 30 different fruit varieties growing in his backyard.
But even with all that food diversity, it’s his videos of him making meals out of invasive species that have really resonated with followers.
“The green iguanas, or the chicken of the trees as a lot of people like to call them,” Davis laughed as he discussed his meals.
His inventive dishes serve up everything from iguana tacos to Burmese python nuggets, to even sushi made from lionfish.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, lionfish are not only invasive, but they can also have a potential negative effect on native marine life and ecosystems. The threat is so serious that the agency encourages people to remove lionfish from Florida waters, just as Gray does in his videos.
“So you can spear them and they’re absolutely delicious to eat and you’re helping the environment, (these are) just the little things that you can do to help mitigate the issues we have,” Davis said.
From climate change to pollution, our natural world is out of balance and Davis believes that every one of us must play a role to protect it. At the Holey Land Wildlife Management area, he showed Local 10 News how easy that role could be.
After he gathered the Spanish needles, Davis found some fiddlehead fern shoots to add to this foraged feast.
“It [fiddle head fern shoots] tastes like asparagus, once it’s cooked,” he explained.
For the protein, he planned to catch a blue tilapia. It may come as a surprise, but the popular restaurant fish is also an invasive species found throughout Florida.
In 2021, a fish count of Silver Springs in Marion County found that the invasive blue tilapia accounted for a whopping 86% of all fish in the springs.
The tilapia were not biting when Local 10 News was out, but ever resourceful, Davis came prepared with his catch from the day before.
With all the ingredients in hand, he fired up a hot plate and prepared this free foraged lunch, while we were surrounded by the awesome beauty of wild Florida.
“You really can help the environment and it doesn’t need to cost you anything,” he said. “Bring awareness to the things that you can do in your day-to-day life, to reduce your carbon footprint, and also help the environment any way you can.”
Davis was not suggesting that everyone go out and start foraging for food. But for those who are game, he says that you need to do your research to make sure what you’re eating is edible and that you are preparing it properly.
The bigger picture here is that Davis’ videos challenge all of us to look at our own lives and find ways that we can live more sustainably and show love and reverence to Mother Earth.
And if you are wondering how the foraged greens and tilapia tasted, Local 10 News crews reported that the dish was delicious.
Gray Davis on social media
https://www.tiktok.com/@gray.davis?lang=en