This paper puts forward a method of assessing food shortage that is based on a traffic light metaphor. The coding system is as follows: normal (green), alarmingly low (amber) and fully depleted (red) food supplies. These metaphors were applied to identify these conditions for Konso (Ethiopia) on the basis of wild food plants (WFPs), crop parts (crop parts not used for human consumption under normal conditions; CPs) and crop residues (CRs) being gathered and consumed. The traffic light metaphor proved useful to identify and closely monitor the types of WFPs, CPs, and CRs collected and consumed and their time of collection by subsistence households in rural settings.