Plants Feed Us

The title of this article reminds us of a short children’s book by Lizzy Rockwell. The first few lines of the book say, “I am a plant eater. Plants reach out for the sun; they grow in the ground. I eat different parts from different plants, sometimes I eat the leaves, other times the roots, bulbs, stems & flowers too.”

We love this little story because it teaches them that food that grows from the ground is nutritious, while they are still young.

We know now that eating is learnt behavior, children watch us like we did our parents. Let’s go back a million years ago when humans were learning to understand the plants around them.

According to scienceabc.com, “Our early ancestors were far more connected to the earth than most modern humans and had to have a deep understanding of the plants and ecosystems where they lived. Their learned behaviour came from observing the generations that came before and absorbing that knowledge.

Once humans became largely agricultural-based, and narrowed their diets down to staple foods, much of the knowledge of wild plants was lost, or faded, but dietary traditions and regional standards persisted, based on what could best be cultivated in the area. Similarly, during the age of exploration, many legendary explorers and their crews became sick and died, often after eating the native plants. Without the regional knowledge or a local guide, they lacked the “learned behaviour” that would keep them safe in that area.”

Now that we have learnt this eating behaviour, now that we already know which plants are safe to eat and which aren’t, the next step I suppose would be to speak of growing our own food.

Yes we can conveniently buy our veggies & fruits from our local stores, but we have knowledge that that growing your own is tastier, much more fresher & will be pesticide free. Growing your own food is a solution to health, environmental & economic problems.

Vegetables that are easy grow:

1. Radish
2. Potatoes
3. Peas
4. Onions & garlic
5. Spinach & kale
6. Tomatoes
7. Lettuce
8. Cucumber
9. Carrots
10. Beetroot

Fruit  Trees & plants that are somewhat easy to grow:

1. Strawberries
2. Berries
3. Apples
4. Grapes
5. Cherries
6. Peaches

The importance of plants to humanity and just about all other life on earth is more than amazing. Since plants are so generous, we could learn from them to give freely by also planting plants that’s other living creatures enjoy, that way we keep the cycle going!