Food Sovereignty and Edible Forests for a Diverse, Sustainable Diet

Food sovereignty is the right of people to define their own policies and sustainable strategies of food production, distribution, and consumption. We all deserve to have access to food that has been produced in a way that does not threaten the ecology, the environment, or the way of life of communities.

Non-Conventional Food Plants

According to the BBC, there are about 300,000 edible plants, but humanity consumes only about 200 of them. I must clarify that this number refers to the global community. At the community level, this number is much smaller and usually does not exceed the 30 plant species appearing in our cuisines, mainly potatoes, wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans.

Unfortunately, to have a healthy diet, we need more diversity in our dishes. That is why I deeply believe in “edible forests” as a means to empower ourselves and thus participate more actively in producing the food that ends up on our tables.

What is an Edible or Food Forest?

Edible forests are a three-dimensional system composed mostly of perennial plants, including trees, shrubs, ground cover plants, and vines, designed to maximize the interactions between the species that compose them and minimize competition. In these productive spaces, we can harvest a wide range of products such as fruits and nuts, firewood, wood, fibers, oils and resins, edible fungi, bee food, fertilizers, and green manures for the same system.

Working with this productive system opens our eyes to the great diversity of foods in our countries, and we do not even know many of them. Now, the range of possibilities expands when studying the PANCs (non-conventional food plants). There is food everywhere; it is just a matter of being attentive. Plants that we ignore may well be part of a delicacy on another side of the planet, or they were widely used by our ancestors in ancient times.

Here you can find more information about Edible Bamboo shoot farming – A future health Food

The more diverse our diet becomes, the more sources of nutrients we will have available to achieve a healthy life. This is why I encourage you to create a study network where the goal is to get together with people with similar interests to know which plants are edible and medicinal. You might feel “overwhelmed” thinking of so many different species to know. Even so, I want to tell you that an average wild orangutan recognizes about 400 different plants. He knows which one to eat and at what stage of development or maturation to eat it. I believe we can also do it again! Look for the permaculture movement in your country (there is probably one), talk to them, and they will surely support you.