Across the world, we collectively eat just 1% of all the edible plant species we can eat. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, there are between 20,000 and 50,000 discovered edible plant species, which is a hefty selection of plants to start adding to your plate. But the truth is, only 150 to 200 are regularly consumed by humans. In fact, 75% of all the food eaten in the world come from just 12 plants and 5 animal species. The reason for this is economic efficiency, but an industry so deeply embedded in the health of our planet and ourselves can’t play by standard economic rules. There is still so much food out there for us to discover. If we want to create more sustainable plates of food, we need to understand more about all foods – the ones we grew up with and the new plant-based alternatives.
