Meet Justin Townsend, a culinary expert and hunter with a taste for wild game. Townsend founded and brought to life the vision of Harvesting Nature, turning cooking and consuming wild game into a thrilling culinary experience. From recipes, cookbooks, and wild game spices, check out why we love Harvesting Nature’s vision and mission as a tasty and sustainable way to being a carnivore.
Tell us about yourself and what you do.
I am the Founder and CEO of Harvesting Nature. I lead an expert team of writers, chefs, instructors, home cooks, and like-minded, wild, food-loving people to run Harvesting Nature. Our focus is to maintain a community that positively promotes the sourcing and consumption of wild food.
What inspired you to start Harvesting Nature?
Harvesting Nature started as a personal blog for me back in 2011. I sought a way to combine my professional culinary career with my passion for the outdoors. After a couple of years of writing, I realized I needed to expand my reach and create a community around wild food. I contacted a few people and started our Field Writer program, which grew the company. Through that program, we have maintained an online community focused on inspiring people to get outdoors to harvest their food from the wild.
Over the years, Harvesting Nature has blossomed into a leading brand in the wild food space, serving thousands. Connecting with people worldwide who share the same passion for wild food has been so fun. Harvesting Nature continues to be a jumping pad for me and many others to network, share ideas, and begin careers in the outdoor community.
Wild game is normally not the meat of choice for the average consumer. What are some ways you make eating wild game more appealing?
Wild game flavor starts with the animal, its food, and its environment, similar to terroir in wine. The grapes are shaped by many factors that create the flavor in the bottle later down the line. Wild game is the same in that sense. As hunters, we add different effects which change the taste and tenderness.
“If you can follow the correct path when handling the meat, you can have superior quality meat even when compared to top-shelf beef or pork.”
Field care is enormously important. You must keep the meat dry and cool it down immediately. That prevents bacteria from damaging the meat, which can drastically affect flavor.
Second to field care is processing. Always allow the meat to cool down and dry out before cutting. This allows the muscles to come out of rigor mortis and be more tender. From there, break down the quarters into usable cuts. We always recommend cooking by the cut and finding specific recipes for a specific cut instead of cooking for a particular type of game. This will help with both tenderness and flavor.
Stormy Kromer and Harvesting Nature both revolve around wilderness. What tips do you have for those looking into harvesting food from the wild?
The first step is getting out. There are so many opportunities to forage, fish, and hunt within an hour of where you live. You would be surprised. Find a piece of public land and just explore. Finally, finding a conservation organization like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is an excellent way to get involved. Go to events, meet people, find mentors, and have fun.
Your cookbook Eat Wild Game and seasonings are a hit at Stormy Kromer. How has your culinary background shaped your perspective on cooking and preparing wild game?
I started cooking professionally in New Orleans in 2008. Since then, I have been fortunate to travel, hunt, fish, and cook worldwide. I became a student and food lover long before I entered my first restaurant job. My background fueled my curiosity and continues to push me to find new and exciting ways to eat wild food. I can take all of that knowledge and inspiration and translate it from my head into a consumable format for everyone to prepare.
The cookbook allows me to share some of my favorite recipes. The spices are amazing. They are shaped and inspired by my travels and the flavors of my culinary past. We tested each of them on specific game types to give you a product that doesn’t hide the taste of wild food. Instead, it pairs perfectly with natural flavors and builds a meal that is second to none… no crazy fillers, additives, or preservatives—just food.
You’re also involved in many conservation efforts! How does promoting the consumption of wild game align with your views on sustainability and ethical eating?
We like to refer to the intersection of conservation and wild food as “Culinary Conservation.”
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- Get Involved in conservation organizations that practice conservation in line with the North American model and hold active events to protect or improve habitat.
This is important because it allows you to give back to a resource you take from. This practice also protects the resources that you use for food. If there is no suitable land or water, wild food will not be present. It will be gone.
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- Follow a practice that takes what you need from the wild. Don’t over-harvest or take more than is required.
I sometimes just go for a doe deer instead of chasing big bucks because I want the meat, which is usually more plentiful. I don’t overharvest mushrooms. I target invasive species to help protect the environment. I eat the invasives, too! If we follow a responsible harvest model and protect the resources, hunting, fishing, and foraging are sustainable and ethical.
Finally, we’d love to know what your favorite wild game is to cook and how you like to prepare it.
I love it all! One of my favorite game animals to hunt and eat is the Pronghorn Antelope. They are so much fun to hunt on the open plains. Their ecological history is fantastic, too.
I enjoy pairing them with citrus and other herbaceous flavors. My favorite meal to make with antelope is Sweet and Sour Antelope Meatballs. You can find this in my cookbook. The recipe is straightforward to make and delicious.
P.S We have a new cookbook in the works, too. Hopefully, it will hit the shelves soon!
To purchase a copy of Harvesting Nature cookbook, check out Eat Wild Game for all of Justin’s phenomenal tips and tricks for your next wild meal. To spice up your own game, Harvesting Nature spices can be found linked on their website.
Harvesting Nature would love to connect if this feature sparked interest in your appetite. Subscribe to their podcast, The Wild Fish and Game Podcast, if you like the cooking side of wild foods. If you’re looking for ways to launch your wild game journey, follow their camp schedule on Instagram and Facebook if you’re interested in hunting or sharpening your culinary skills for wild game.
