Pascal Baudar is a wild food educator, author, naturalist, fermentation expert, and wild clay potter based in Southern California. For more than two decades, he has explored the relationship between people, food, and landscape through foraging, traditional food preservation, fermentation, brewing, and the creative use of local natural resources.

A former University of California Master Food Preserver and Food Safety Advisor, Pascal studies ancestral food preservation methods through both historical and scientific lenses. His work focuses on understanding not only how traditional cultures preserved food, but how these practices can inform a more meaningful and beneficial relationship with the land today.

Known for his pioneering work with invasive and noxious plants, Pascal views underutilized species as opportunities rather than waste, transforming them into foods, beverages, condiments, craft materials, and educational tools. His research combines wild ingredients, traditional foodways, and contemporary culinary techniques to create practical solutions rooted in place.

In recent years, his work has expanded to include wild clay pottery, creating vessels from locally gathered clays and using them in the preparation and serving of fermented beverages, teas, vinegars, lacto-ferments, sprouts, and other foods inspired by the landscape. Through this integration of wild foods, fermentation, ancestral technologies, and material culture, he seeks to reconnect food systems with the ecosystems from which they emerge.

Pascal is the author of five books: The New Wildcrafted Cuisine, The Wildcrafting Brewer, Wildcrafted Fermentation, Wildcrafted Vinegars, and Wildcrafted Seeds and Grains. Two of his books have received industry awards for excellence in food and beverage writing. His work has been featured in numerous publications and media outlets, including Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, and the New York Times. He has also served as a consultant for television programs including MasterChef and Top Chef Duels.

His goal is not merely sustainability. He believes that reducing harm is no longer enough and that people must find ways to actively contribute to the well-being of the landscapes they inhabit. Through food, fermentation, pottery, wildcrafting, and the thoughtful use of local resources, he explores how ancestral practices can help foster a more reciprocal relationship between people and the natural world.