The origin
Why I Created GOEDTEST
A few years ago, I spent several months living in a food forest in Florida.
Something unexpected happened.
I wasn't thinking about my health anymore. I woke up energized. I slept deeply. My mood was stable. My mind felt clear. My body felt good.
There was no miracle supplement. No complicated diet. No health obsession.
I simply lived closer to food.
Fresh food surrounded me. Food was growing everywhere. It was part of everyday life.
For the first time, I experienced what real wellness felt like.
And I realized something important:
"When you're truly healthy, you don't spend your day thinking about your health. You simply live."
The discovery
That experience changed me forever.
When I returned home to the Adirondacks, I started asking a simple question:
"What food grows here?"
The answer surprised me.
There were hundreds of edible plants, fruits, nuts, berries, herbs, mushrooms, and perennial foods growing in my region that I had never heard of.
Many were growing just a few miles away.
Some had been growing here for generations.
Yet most people, including me, had no idea they existed.
The mission
That realization became an obsession.
What if every person could discover the foods that naturally grow where they live?
What if we could reconnect people with local food, local growers, local knowledge, and the incredible abundance that already exists around them?
What if the first step toward better food wasn't importing something from across the world, but rediscovering what grows in our own backyard?
GOEDTEST
GOEDTEST was born from that question.
Today, GOEDTEST helps people discover foods that grow in their region, uncover forgotten food opportunities, and explore a more connected relationship with food, health, community, and the land beneath their feet.
Because the future of food may not be somewhere else.
It may already be growing around you.
— Sophia Erik
Founder, GOEDTEST
