The untapped potential of the plant kingdom

It is time for us to get excited about plants. And no… this doesn’t mean turning your interior into a rainforest of houseplants! Plants feed us, provide us with clothing, medicine, infrastructure and just about everything we need to function. But did you know that out of over 300,000 named species, we use less than 200 as main commercial crops. Many of these crops are grown in monocultural systems that jeopardize the diversity of the natural world.

Unfortunately, it isn’t enough to be vegan. There are many sustainability issues with the production of plant-based foods that pose very real threats to food security in the coming years. Not all of which can be covered in this article.

By altering natural landscapes to develop monocultures, intensive agricultural practices have had serious impacts on soil health. Soil health is regulated and maintained in coordination with a diversity of living organisms that contribute to a range of different nutrients within the soil. In order to compensate for poor soil quality, pollutant agrochemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and insecticides are used to substitute soil nutrients and maintain farming yields.

Forests are sometimes termed “the lungs of the earth”, due to their ability to absorb CO₂ and release oxygen. They serve as habitats to many plants and animals, with tropical rainforests being one of the most biologically rich and diverse ecosystems on the planet. Deforestation of these ecological hubs, in the name of agricultural land-use, has removed natural mitigators of greenhouse gases, and diminished native species around the globe.

Our current system is too dependent on a small number of crops that are already failing to feed everyone a substantial and nutritious diet. Not only is the current system failing, but climate change will exacerbate the vulnerability of these staple crops. This is a great weakness of the global food system with consequences that we could have predicted and prevented.

In light of keeping things positive, I want to get at the enormous potential that still exists within the plant kingdom to save humanity. A potential that is worth altering economic systems to accept the inherent value of our botanical friends and protect their diversity.

There are over 7,000 known edible plant species, with many more to be discovered. By diversifying the plants we consume, we become less vulnerable to the decline of a single crop-type. Diversification may include using a larger variety of crop-types, but also increasing the genetic diversity within a crop species.

Plants provide further potential in the form of biofuels that could be integrated into the diverse energy matrix that will be required to create energy in place of fossil fuels.

Throughout human history, the plant kingdom has served as a natural pharmacy. Many drugs are derived from plants, including chemotherapy treatments, pain medication, remedies for heart disease and much more. The biodiverse forests of the world hold within them future medicines to be discovered, and if allowed to flourish, more to evolve.

If you already attempt to live a plant-based lifestyle than you most certainly deserve commendation. However, if we don’t go that step further to protect natural landscapes and maintain biodiversity, the plant-based diet, produced by current means, will be the cause of further deforestation, soil depletion and other repercussions that definitely don’t align with the values of the vegan movement.

Article written by Aisling Geraghty- United Kingdom