Eating weeds for many people is a weird concept. That’s obviously because they’re not on offer in a supermarket. As a result we have turned our backs on and forgotten the planet’s huge biodiversity. There are around 80,000 edible plant species in the world and routinely we eat just 10-15 of these. What impact is this loss of diversity having on our health and our capacity to live to our fullest potential? We only have to look at the health statistics to find the answers.
We’ve forgotten some pretty fundamental things. Chiefly that we are mammals roaming a planet and entirely dependent on nature’s abundance for survival.
So what’s this all got to do with weeds? And why should we eat them?
Top 10 Reasons to Eat Weeds (here's the first 3)
1/ They are globalised plants for example amaranth, chickweed, clover, dandelion, dock, grass, knotweed, fat hen or lambs quarters, mallow, mustard, plantain, purslane, thistle, transcend continents and cultures.
2/ Eating weeds is a super-easy way to diversify our diet. Studies have shown that the more diverse our diet, the better our chances of staying healthy for a long time.
3/ They are abundant and resilient. They don’t need intensive growing systems, they grow themselves!! Perhaps the weeds are mother nature saying ‘Look, humans, look! I’m right here, in your garden, in the pavement cracks, wherever you go, here I am, trying to nourish you and make you aware of us!’
See the blog article here for the remaining seven reasons.
