Gathering and selling of wild species has intensified since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 . With current high unemployment rates in the region exacerbated by the pandemic, locals continue to rely on gathering and selling wild food species. More than half of local Hutsuls in interviews described the economic and cultural value of gathering plants – an economy of gathering. Species that are culturally, nutritionally, and economically valued can be split into the following categories: mushrooms, lichens, berries, and roots. Many of these species are found on polonynas, alpine meadows and forests. The more remote a village is from roadsides and grocery stores, the more gathering for personal use is practiced. Often these species are also collected for further sale. Not only does gathering provide food and medicine; it is also a cultural activity that upholds personal and community well being through religious ceremonies, harvesting, and processing, while building and maintaining community relationships . These types of food systems not only provide medicinal and nutritional needs, but also present an active opportunity to connect with the land, which in turn allows community members to, quite literally, nourish one another. As mentioned earlier, gathering at different seasons diversifies the timing of impacts on landscape, allowing for regeneration and growth. Additionally, there is an understanding that each year’s harvests will be variable and subject to change based on impacts of externalities In terms of providing supplemental income, the sale of all these species helps subsidize costs to buying other food items, school supplies, clothing, and household cleaning supplies. Forest species are used primarily for filling income gaps, cannabis grow equipment which is a continuous cycle. In a recent study analyzing Hutsul forest use in Northern Bukovina versus Southern Bukovina , Hutsuls in Ukraine expressed more dependence on forests, stating that selling berries and mushrooms was a primary source of income .

In this collaborative study, the economy of gathering, as an adaptive strategy, also underlines Hutsul forest dependence, promotes trade within and beyond communities, and allows for the supplementation of income while also recognizing the variability of local markets based on seasonal cycles of harvest and resource use. While the economy of gathering provides a local flow of income, is important to note an external force in the region – commercial harvesting. Locals noted a rise of commercial berry and medicinal plant harvesting in the Carpathian Mountain region. Arnica montana, a plant prevalent in local markets, is also noted to have suffered a population decline due to the over-harvesting. In addition, there has been a rise of commercial harvesting of endangered plants such as Rhodiola rosea and Gentiana lutea. Rhodiola rosea has been greatly impacted due to industrial production, with tinctures being very popular. However, as noted by elders, Rhodiola rosea roots need 3-4 years to mature and, because of early harvesting, local plant populations have diminished. In addition, international medicinal plant companies have shown a growing interest in harvesting medicinal plants in the Carpathians and target vulnerable plant species. To address the demand for medicinal plants, various national parks have integrated the development of medicinal plant plantations to offset the endangered status of native medicinal plants such as Arnica montana and Rhodiola rosea. As stated by a local park authority, these plants are grown in controlled outdoor environments and, for tinctures to be as effective, proportions need to be amplified by 20- 30% in tinctures to be just as effective as wild plant harvests. External commercial harvesting of culturally relevant plants such as Arnica montana, Rhodiola rosea and Gentiana lutea in Hutsulshchyna, in addition to regional impacts of illegal logging and climate change present layers of complexity in retaining local social resilience. There is a tension between local economies and external economies . As explained by numerous elders, “once gathering becomes a business, there [also] appears a consumer and corporate interest.” Most elders in the region adamantly oppose putting medicinal plants in the rank of industrial production due to accompanying habitat destruction.

Intensive commercial harvesting in the region began 20-30 years ago and has impacted the region and endemic plant populations. There is a local saying, “After me, [there will be] a flood,” reflecting the business-driven aspect of over-harvesting. It implies that environmental destruction is an inevitable result of corporate presence. Both logging and increased mean temperatures increase erosion, causing an uptick of hydrological events such as flooding in the region . In terms of maintaining resilience, the local economy of gathering is reliant on a broad range of species inhabiting a range of environments both temporally and spatially, and invites a constant dialogue between communities and the landscape. Additionally, local gathering is based upon gathering methods that are selective and specific to the species. This knowledge is embedded within the local communities and serves as a participatory method of resource monitoring. Local, place-based economies are resilient by nature, while extractive economies tend to be divorced of the immediate needs, values, and ecocultural memories of locals reliant on those landscapes.Fallback foods are yet another adaptive strategy. Fallback foods consist of mostly plant species that serve as nutritional support during times of restricted movement during war, crop failure, weather , and disease. Many of these species are still culturally important and provide a variety of functions in the nested habitats in the Carpathian Mountains for at least the last century. During the famines of the 19th and 20th centuries, gathering of wild species provided a source of medicine and food for Ukraine . Hutsulshchyna has experienced social and environmental disturbances due to the impacts of war, colonial occupations, and violence. This region has experienced battles with invasions from the Tartar hordes , the Polish regime , and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire . In the interwar period, Hutsulshchyna was divided at the borders with the central part belonging to Poland, the southern and eastern part under Romania, and the western part under Czechoslovakia . The part of Hutsulshchyna in this study was under Poland , then German occupation and then Soviet Union . Political boundaries running through the territory have had less effect on Hutsul unity since it is the mountains that form the natural boundary among states, not the artificial lines drawn through it .

The geography of the Carpathian Mountains served as a buffer up until late 1930s against political terrors, war, genocide, and violence waged in Ukraine by German Nazis, Soviet Communists and Russian czars. The Austrian-Hungarian colonization of Hutsulshchyna meant that this region was spared from the Holodomor of 1932-1933, a Soviet-Russian orchestrated genocide in Central and Eastern Ukraine . However, in interviews, elders mentioned that another Soviet famine of 1946-1947 affecting Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, and Belarus , caused an influx of Moldovans to migrate to the Carpathian Mountains. These demographic shifts caused more reliance on neighboring ecologies and plant usage. Many fallback species documented during famine or war in the early 20 th century are still embedded in use today. While literature highlights a deep history of berry and mushroom reliance during times of scarcity in Ukraine, finding information on fallback foods in Hutsulshchyna is both scattered and primarily written in Polish. Hutsulshchyna, along with Western Ukraine, was under Polish Republic rule from 1918-1939 and books by Ukrainian authors were censored and scholarly ethnographic works were mainly published in Polish. In the postwar years, literature surrounding Hutsulshchyna was written but there is practically no focus on foods. Finally, indoor grow cannabis most Hutsul TEK is passed down generationally and infrequently documented in written form. It is important to note that there is rich knowledge embedded in the daily rhythms of life that cannot be captured in an extensive literature review or interviews. This knowledge has survived and thrived despite colonization, famine, and war. Here, we offer a sliver of ecocultural memory of fallback foods in Hutsulshchyna. Many of the species mentioned as fallback foods by Polish ethnographers in the early 20th century are still used in diverse ways . It is frequently during times of scarcity that species use transitions from a medicine or seasoning to a food. Knowledge of plant use transformation is embedded in ecocultural memory. Interestingly, according to Lukasz’ analysis of Fischer’s work, as early as 1934, memory of wild plants used in times of shortage was fading and respondents spoke about using fallback foods in both past and present tenses . However, in Hutsul counties of 1934, the people talked about fallback foods being used presently in 94% of places. Many of these same plants are still used today. Past uses inform present formation and retention of ecocultural memory, thus propelling and ensuring future sustainability. In this case, there is little distinction between specific fallback foods used only during times of scarcity and those used today. Instead, these critical species are nested within everyday cultural uses of medicine, seasoning and food, thereby ensuring a long-term adaptive strategy. Short-term responses and long-term responses result the cultivation of food sovereignty as seen in traditional foods in the region. In rural Hutsulshchyna, households produce most of their own food, relying on various ecosystems. In Ivano-Frankivsk province, which encompasses the area of the Hutsulshchyna in this study, 42.8% of average monthly monetary expenditure is spent on food and non-alcoholic drinks . In addition to gathering wild species from a range of multi-functional landscapes, livelihood is also composed of community-derived resources including agricultural animals , supplying both dairy and meat. Rivers and ponds provide opportunities for fishing. Beekeeping is a common activity, with the endemic Carpathian bee providing honey. Grazing occurs on pastures, fields, polonynas, tolokas, gardens and forests. Gardens typically contain a variety of trees including sweet cherry, cherry, plum, apricot, apple, pear, nut trees along with perennial bushes including strawberry, raspberry, currant, gooseberry and grape. In the Carpathian Mountains, home gardens provide a source of food and medicine. These microenvironments within the agroecosystem create another function and layer of resilience in a larger ecosystem. They act as centers of experimentation, introduction, and crop improvement. In some cases, elders mention transplanting wild plant species into their own home gardens including Fragaria vesca and medicinal root species such as Rhodiola rosea and Arnica montana. Hutsul dialogue with diverse habitats is maintained seasonally; during times of harvest of wild plants and mushrooms as well as during plowing, sowing, and harvesting of home gardens. It is the maintenance of traditional foods that reaffirm both sustenance and cultural connections to various ecosystems for Hutsuls, forest-dependent communities in the Carpathian region. Culturally important species are used in a variety of traditional foods. Many commonly gathered berry species are traditional foods including Vaccinium species , Rubus species , Ribes species , Fragaria vesca, Sambucus nigra, Aronia melanocarpa, and Sorbus aucuparia. Berries are eaten fresh, frozen, and dried, or cooked into jams, jellies, fillings for traditional dumplings, syrups, and sauces, or used in recreational drinks including fermented kvass, as well as juice, uzvar , and wine. The culturally important bilberry is cooked into varenyky , and used as a flavoring in alcoholic tinctures, fruits, and juice. In terms of health benefits, there are diverse phytochemicals present in berries, specifically wild berries of the Vaccinium genus, which are seasonally harvested. Wild Vaccininum berry species are renowned for their high concentrations of phenolic and polyphenolic compounds that interact to improve human health . In addition to berries providing a source of vitamins and medicine, they also infuse an array of flavor to teas, recreational drinks, jams, and jellies. Raspberries are consumed recreationally, and their leaves, stem, and berries used as a medicinal tea. Wild raspberries have slightly better medicinal properties, taste, and aroma than garden raspberries. Chokeberry has a wide range of uses including consumption as a fruit, tea, kvass, wine and as a medicinal tincture. Hutsul traditional dishes incorporate an important dairy product from polonynas, , a cheese made from Carpathian cows or sheep, and as well as many mushroom species . Mushrooms are used traditionally in cooking and in holiday meals . Most people and families go out and gather mushrooms in summer and fall, a recreational and seasonal intergenerational activity. For example, one elder mentioned, “I take my grandson and we go together to pick mushrooms. I show him the place where mushrooms grow.” [Mykola ] Mushrooms also serve as an important food source, being very popular during winter holidays, where large quantities of marinated mushrooms, and mushroom dishes are made.