EcoChef: Give native plants a chance

ONE OF THE myths of our modern food system is how much choice we have. True, we can buy a seemingly infinite variety of processed foods, but they are all made from a handful of plant ingredients. And while we can eat A wide range of fruits and vegetables yearround, the total number of plants that we consume is usually less than 50. Many people eat less than 30 kinds of plants their entire lives...."Imagine how sustainable our diets would be if we simply ate what the land provided," says Alrie Middlebrook, president of the California Native Garden Foundation, at a recent native food banquet she organized with indigenous food chef John Farais. The banquet was the culmination of an Eating California class taught by Middlebrook and Farais, which combined information about growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating native foods...

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