SUPP UP. Self-Reliance Articles

Your grocery store isn’t and shouldn’t be your only source of food. Neither should your garden. This is for two reasons – the biggest and most obvious being food restrictions. COVID 2020 was a prime example of this.

The second reason is linked to your own personal garden – if it becomes compromised in any way e.g. it gets damaged or raided by wildlife or some time of soil contamination, you’re out of luck.

Foraging is an old but forgotten skill to have. One of our community members, Here’s a guest contribution from one of our SUPP UP. Social community members, Fun foodie Forager & More made a good point of this in their guest contribution article. There are many places across the world where edible vegetation can be found – whether it’s poisonous or not is a different story.

There are an estimated 300,000 edible plants in the world. The main skill you need in order to make good use of them is to know where to find them and which is which. While some may be edible, they have very little nutritional value, so it’s important to learn which are the most nutrient dense. You also need to consider those which are widespread and available throughout the year, and those which are seasonal.

Next is identifying which are poisonous so you can avoid them altogether.

Plants are rich with minerals and essential vitamins, and contain carbohydrates and [while not as much as meat-based products] protein. Adding to that, they’re fibrous to keep your gut in check, and some plants will contain fats to aid in digestion and absorption of vitamins and minerals.

Word to the wise: if you’ve never eaten any one type of plant before, you’ll need to start small. Don’t eat large amounts at any one time. Start by testing a fresh plant adding it to some soups or stews – this will build up your intake, allowing your body to become used to the new food, meaning your body is less likely to reject it.

I should also add that just because another mammal, bird, or insect has eaten a plant, this does not mean you should assume it’s also suitable for the human palate.

Always Test New Plants.

When you try out potential edible plants, always ensure you do the following:

1. Only one person testing per plant.

2. Don’t take shortcuts – do testing to completion on a new plant.

3. When in doubt, avoid a plant.

4. If you have stomach trouble, you can settle it by drinking lots of hot water to flush the system, waiting until the stomach pain passes. If it’s really painful, self-induce vomiting by putting your finger to the back of your throat and moving your finger against it. Alternatively, swallow charcoal powder with some water – charcoal is a powerful aid that induces vomiting and known for absorbing some toxins from the body.

5. Chewing mint after will settle your digestive system, and white wood ash mixed into a paste with some water will relieve your stomach pain.

How to Test Edible Plants.

1. Inspect. Attempt to identify the plant. Make sure it’s not worm-eaten or slimy. This indicates it’s no longer useful, with little nutritional value. Some old plants will change their chemical content, becoming toxic.

2. Smell. Crush a small amount of the plant. If it smells like bitter almonds or peaches, THROW IT AWAY.

3. Skin Irritation. Squeeze or rub slightly some of the plant juice onto a sensitive part of your body – for example, under your arm between the armpit and elbow. If you develop a rash, swelling, or any kind of discomfort, THROW IT AWAY and AVOID that plant in future.

4. Mouth, Tongue, Lips. Alternatively, if you experience no irritation on your skin, now it’s time to test in the following order, moving on to the next only after a 5 second wait period to ensure there’s no adverse reactions:

• Place a small amount of the plant on your lips.
• Then a small amount in the corner of your mouth.
• A small portion on the tip of your tongue.
• Then a small portion under your tongue.
• Finally, chew a small portion.
• During any of the above, if you feel any discomfort i.e. soreness in your throat, stinging, burning, or irritation…THROW IT AWAY and AVOID in future.

1. Swallow. If you’re still fine after the above, swallow a small amount of the plant and WAIT for 5 hours. During this time, don’t eat or drink anything else.

2. Eating. If after 5 hours you haven’t had any of the following reactions – nausea, mouth soreness, repeated burping, stomach pains, vomiting, griping pains in the lower abdomen or any other symptoms of discomfort – you may consider the plant to be safe. Add it to a list of safe plants, capturing an image / drawing an illustration of it if need be.

In the next post, we’ll cover Part 2 of Edible Plants. Stay tuned.

Interested in sharing a self-reliance article as a member of SUPP UP. Social? Let me know and I’ll consider it for publishing! Contact me on Moderator@supp-up.social.

Until next time…

- Sol

Stop doing guesswork, start making self-reliance easier.

Self-Reliance #2: Edible Plants Part 1 is an article from SUPP UP. Social.

SUPP UP. Social is a spin-off from the main SUPP UP. Blog. While the blog focuses on nutrition, workouts, and recipes, this server focuses wholly on self-reliance and offers a space for people to join a like-minded community.

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