Wild plants, seagreens, heirloom harvests, medicinal herbs and other purely botanical sources of nutrition offer a diverse source of earth grown energy.
The untapped potential of plants is powering athletes and inspiring a new ‘meat-free’ movement, says reformed meat head and No Meat May founder, Ryan Alexander.
By feasting on only fresh, ripe, organic fruits and vegetables (alkaline foods) and eliminating all acid-forming food from their diet (animal proteins), athletes Alan Murray and Janette Murray-Wakelin attained a new level of optimum health, improving their physical fitness, and increasing their performance levels.
Their new plant-based diet fuelled their 2013 world record together running close to 16,000km around Australia. To break that down into a more digestible sentence for runners, that’s each running 366 marathons (43 km) in 366 days, with a sum total of zero days off!
Yep, plant power is pretty remarkable. Not only providing us with an abundance of nutritional firepower to break world records, but the diverse world of plants is also vital for medicine with about 70% of the world’s population reliant on traditional plant remedies for medical treatment.
Indigenous Australians have a long history of cultivating plants for many medicinal purposes as well as for nourishment. Different regions having different plant staples, including yams, bush tomatoes, figs and quandong fruits. Corms of bush onion, wild orange truffles, green plumbs, gall nuts of the mulga apple or bloodwood apple and the seeds from some grasses are other native Australian bush foods that are very rich in vitamins and minerals, butt unfortunately we can not buy these at Woolworths.
Not understanding the medicinal and nutritional value of native Australian plants, British colonists instead chose to introduce their own foreign plants for commercial production in Australia. This same approach has been used around the globe for centuries, and sadly it’s led to the loss of much botanical knowledge and plant varieties.
However more recently, some exciting agricultural projects have achieved great success in commercialising native plants. This more sustainable approach to farming could be a part of the solution to feeding our world in the future.
All up, botanists from around the globe have identified almost two million distinct plant varieties, with samples of these identified seeds kept by governments and private enterprises in more than 1,400 seed banks. (Picture underground vaults built into remote mountain ranges as a kind of insurance policy against a zombie apocalypse, or the almost certain impact of climate change).
Only 30,000 species of identified plants are edible. Still, that’s probably a good 29,950 more varieties than most of us eat each year.
One way to increase your exposure to the dazzling abundance of the plant world is to sign up for the No Meat May challenge and give up meat for a month. It’s a simple yet powerful way to try out the many benefits of a plant-based diet, both for your health and the world.
There are four big, and incredibly compelling reasons to register for No Meat May. You’ll improve your health, do some good for our planet, make a stand against factory farming, and learn about the impact of our food choices on developing countries.
With more and more research showing shifts towards a more plant-based diet reducing your risk of diabetes, heart-disease, certain cancers, obesity and weight gain, the month of May is a great opportunity to break some habits and make some long term adjustments to your diet.
Introducing more plants could not only improve your workout recovery time but also up your odds of being able to walk to the post office to collect your letter from the queen, with her likely unrestricted access to the British seed vault possibly the reason she’s not going anywhere fast.
Along with athletes such as Alan and Janette, you’ll also be part of the plant-based health revolution that is happening all around the world.
Animal agriculture is a massive contributor if not the leading cause of climate change, and Australia has one of the highest rates of meat consumption in the world. Without doubt, an unsustainable rate. Each of us has a crucial role to play in addressing the massive risks faced by our planet. No Meat May is an opportunity to turn real climate concerns into positive action and reduce your contribution of greenhouse gasses.
People often talk about having a personal choice, but how great would it be if your personal choice became the ethical choice. No Meat May empowers you to make the best choices for yourself, your family, all animals and our planet. It’s a time to make a clear stance against the incredible violence and abuse we see in factory farming, and to raise awareness of the inequitable distribution of food around the globe that contributes to millions of children dying of starvation each year.
You may not come through your No Meat May experience a certified veg head, but eating half as much meat seems like such a no brainer when you look at the many devastating effects of our current over-consumption. Bring with you your own unique sense of adventure, explore exciting new ingredients and discover new favourite restaurants.
No Meat May encourages supporters and participants to take a selfie with a fruit or vegetable and hashtag #vegelfie and #nomeatmay to social media, and to connect with the global No Meat May community online. Challenge some friends to post a #vegelfie and increase awareness.
On average, everyone who takes part saves 17 grateful animals by saying no to 16 Lbs of meat. And each prevents 134 Lbs of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. That in itself is an achievement worth celebrating and a step towards a healthier, kinder, and greener future.
Even if you don’t put on your running shoes and run a marathon a day during May, you’ll almost certainly feel the benefits of greater plant power and a shift in your energy-levels by feasting on the abundance of our plant world.
Sign up officially at nomeatmay.net and click through the social links to stay connected during May.
