[ACCEPTED] - Forage and Forget

[Candensia]

Another draft I've held onto for far too long.

First Draft

[DRAFT] - Forage and Forget

[The Issue] - The @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ Botanical Society has reported a sharp decline in wild herb populations due to over-collection, resulting in a blossoming debate over foraging rules.


[Option 1] - "Help our herbs!" exclaims caffeinated botanist Rose Marie. "I lose sleep over how our plants are nonchalantly uprooted to be gluttonously eaten, greedily sold, or even used by hikers as improvised toilet paper! @@NAME@@ cannot afford losing a native species to extinction, just because it looks appealing to wipe with! The collection of wild flora must be thoroughly regulated. Foragers should abide by collection limits and harvesting bans for vulnerable species to safeguard botanical research and the national interest."

[effect] - citizens who carelessly wipe receive crippling fines


[Option 2] - "Will my daughter need a flower picking permit?" snaps impassioned radio personality Kud Zoos. "And what's next, a lawnmower ban? What a joke! Plenty depend on wild herbs for food security or to supplement their income, and extensive regulation would leave them eating dirt. Even so, that doesn't mean we should completely slash and burn our responsibility to nature. Allow foragers to collect as much as they want, for a small environmental conservation fee."

[effect] - the government protects nature by holding all-you-can-uproot extravaganzas


[Option 3] - "Over-regulation is bad for the economy, but so is extinction," reports Deputy Commerce Minister Allow Vera. "Especially if, say, the exterminated herb has medicinal properties- @@NAME@@ would lose out on any health benefits, and the ability to profit off of it! But honestly, not all weeds are worth protecting, so how about this? Mandate the preservation of economically important and medicinal plants in national botanical gardens and herbaria. That way, even if foragers go wild, the nation still flowers."

[effect] - botanical gardens are shrines to herbal medicine

Second Draft

[DRAFT] - Forage and Forget

[The Issue] - The @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ Botanical Society has reported a sharp decline in wild herb populations due to over-collection, resulting in a blossoming debate over foraging rules.


[Option 1] - "Help our herbs!" exclaims caffeinated botanist Rose Marie. "I lose sleep over how our plants are nonchalantly uprooted to be gluttonously eaten, greedily sold, or even used by hikers as improvised toilet paper! @@NAME@@ cannot afford to lose a native species to extinction, just because it looks appealing to wipe with! The collection of wild flora must be thoroughly regulated. Foragers should abide by collection limits and harvesting bans for vulnerable species to safeguard botanical research and the national interest."

[effect] - citizens who carelessly wipe receive crippling fines


[Option 2] - "Will my daughter need a flower picking permit?" snaps impassioned radio personality Kud Zoos. "And what's next, a lawnmower ban? What a joke! Plenty depend on wild herbs for food security or to supplement their income, and extensive regulation would leave them eating dirt. Even so, that doesn't mean we should completely slash and burn our responsibility to nature. Allow foragers to collect as much as they want, for a small environmental conservation fee."

[effect] - the government protects nature by holding all-you-can-uproot extravaganzas


[Option 3] - "Over-regulation is bad for the economy, but so is extinction," reports Deputy Commerce Minister Allow Vera. "Especially if, say, the exterminated herb has medicinal properties- @@NAME@@ would lose out on any health benefits, and the ability to profit off of it! But honestly, not all weeds are worth protecting, so how about this? Let’s identify economically important and medicinal plants then preserve them in national botanical gardens and herbaria. That way, even if foragers go wild, the nation still flowers."

[effect] - botanical gardens are shrines to herbal medicine

Current Draft

[DRAFT] - Forage and Forget SUBMITTED 4/7/2020

[The Issue] - The @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ Botanical Society has reported a sharp decline in wild herb populations due to over-collection, resulting in a blossoming debate over foraging rules.

[Option 1] - "Help our herbs!" exclaims caffeinated botanist Rose Marie. "I lose sleep over how our plants are nonchalantly uprooted to be gluttonously eaten, greedily sold, or even used by hikers as improvised toilet paper! @@NAME@@ cannot afford to lose a native species to extinction, just because it looks appealing to wipe with! The collection of wild flora must be thoroughly regulated. Foragers should abide by collection limits and harvesting bans for vulnerable species to safeguard botanical research and the national interest."

[effect] - pulling weeds is seen as a threat to national security


[Option 2] - "Will my daughter need a flower picking permit?" snaps impassioned radio personality Kud Zoos. "And what's next, a lawnmower ban? What a joke! Plenty depend on wild herbs for food security or to supplement their income, and extensive regulation would leave them eating dirt. Even so, that doesn't mean we should completely slash and burn our responsibility to nature. Allow foragers to collect as much as they want, for a small environmental conservation fee."

[effect] - foragers descend on national cemeteries for 'all-you-can-dig-up' extravaganzas


[Option 3] - "Over-regulation is bad for the economy, but so is extinction," reports Deputy Commerce Minister Allow Vera. "Especially if, say, the exterminated herb has medicinal properties- @@NAME@@ would lose out on any health benefits, and the ability to profit off of it! But honestly, not all weeds are worth protecting, so how about this? Let’s identify economically important and medicinal plants then preserve them in national botanical gardens and herbaria. That way, even if foragers go wild, the nation still flowers."

[effect] - money grows on trees

[Australian rePublic]

Option 2- so what happens to people who need improve toilet paper?

[Trotterdam]

So, uh... I guess this is an actual issue? We don't have a lot of people picking herbs here in the city, but I could see it possibly being a problem in rural areas, especially in poorer countries where people are more reliant on the wild for food.

[effect] - the government protects nature by holding all-you-can-uproot-extravaganzas

Here, have a rare case of my suggesting you remove a hyphen

Keep the first three, but drop the last one.

[Option 3] - "Over-regulation is bad for the economy, but so is extinction," reports Deputy Commerce Minister Allow Vera. "Especially if, say, the exterminated herb has medicinal properties- @@NAME@@ would lose out on any health benefits, and the ability to profit off of it! But honestly, not all weeds are worth protecting, so how about this? Mandate the preservation of economically important and medicinal plants in national botanical gardens and herbaria. That way, even if foragers go wild, the nation still flowers."

[effect] - botanical gardens are shrines to herbal medicine

How do you decide which plants count as medicinal? What if one has possible medicinal properties but hasn't been thoroughly tested yet? What if one is popularly claimed to have medicinal qualities by clueless quacks?

If I were a botanist trying to save as many plants as I can I'd argue that having nutritional value counts as a "medicinal property". Starving is pretty bad for your health.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Google suggests to me its happened before:

http://www.ekathimerini.com/152600/arti ... reek-herbs

Regardless, it has a ring of truth to it, and sounds like something that could happen, and thats good enough for me.

The effect lines are a little meh, is my only concern.

[Candensia]

-snip-

I can change the option slightly in order to make "medicinal plants" less nebulous. Or at least make it seem that way...

[Option 3] - "Over-regulation is bad for the economy, but so is extinction," reports Deputy Commerce Minister Allow Vera. "Especially if, say, the exterminated herb has medicinal properties- @@NAME@@ would lose out on any health benefits, and the ability to profit off of it! But honestly, not all weeds are worth protecting, so how about this? Let's identify economically important and medicinal plants then preserve them in national botanical gardens and herbaria. That way, even if foragers go wild, the nation still flowers."

The way I see it, if medicinal plants are "identified" before they are preserved, then that at least implies relevant testing is done to confirm medicinal and/or economic benefit.

Google suggests to me its happened before:

http://www.ekathimerini.com/152600/arti ... reek-herbs

Regardless, it has a ring of truth to it, and sounds like something that could happen, and thats good enough for me.

The effect lines are a little meh, is my only concern.

I can rethink the effects.

EDIT: Draft version updated, option 3 tweaked as displayed above.

[Chan Island]

This is very good and absolutely worthy of attention.

[Candensia]

This is very good and absolutely worthy of attention.

Thanks!

Floating effects for options 1 and 2, respectively.

[effect 1] - jungle-gyms are a growing problem in public parks

[effect 2] - foragers descend on national cemeteries for 'all-you-can-dig-up' extravaganzas

[Candensia]

I’ve updated the draft version. All effects have been updated.

[Candensia]

Anything left to sort out here?