The Diversity of Food

In my research, I have found a couple of plants that could be used for human food. These plants are the dandelion and the cattail. The leaves, roots and yellow parts of the flowers, of the dandelion, can all be used and are highly nutritious. The cattail is one of the most important wild foods that can be found almost anywhere there is water. The cattail can be identified by the brown furry tops that will be left from the year before and they are much taller than their look-alike's. They are very tasty, highly nutritious, and easy to harvest. The shoots and pollen can be used and a starch can be pounded from the washed and air dried rhizomes. There are also many medicinal uses for both of these plants. Cattails can also render organic pollution harmless and fix atmospheric nitrogen putting it back into the soil. To find out more about these and many other edible wild plants you can go to www.wildmanstevebrill.com .
Some implications of having minimal diversity in the human diet on the environment/society are that soil nutrients are depleted from growing crops in the same field, year after year and many people do not get the required nutrients they need without fortification of many of the foods we eat. With minimal diversity, society becomes reliant on the crops that are commonly grown for their food supply and when these crops fail, there can be devastation and starvation in many areas.
Some implications of relying on three primary annual crops are the need for food storage that can be lost due to insects, rot, and disease, which can cause famine and higher prices. With these crops being annuals, a number of natural disasters can wipe out the crops that are relied on for consumption by humans and for animal fodder. The recent production of fuel from corn is not only depleting the soil where these crops are grown, but is also causing the price of corn to skyrocket in some areas. To paraphrase a news broadcast by President Bush, it is great for the corn growers, but bad for the hog farmers because the corn growers receive more for their crops and hog farmers are having to pay more to feed their hogs.
I believe that we should expand our diversity of food crops because it is not safe or environmentally friendly to rely on 3 main crops to provide food for a growing economy.