“Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better”
Albert Einstein

Super Food Are Wild Foods

If you’ve seen my videos, you probably know wild food makes up a huge portion of my diet. Now, by wild food I mean food that I have gathered around the vicinity where I reside.  We must understand that wild plants are survivors and have been able to develop certain mechanisms that help them survive Nature’s unpredictable onslaught of weather.  Wild plants are not watered everyday,  they are not given special fertilizer, they are not protected from the sometimes hard sun and they are not tended by man daily.  Wild plants always come out much stronger and potent then their conventionally grown counterparts.  But the question remains, why?

Wild Foods Example

Let me give you an example that may help you understand this phenomenon a bit better.  For this example I’m going to relate people to conventional plants and wild plants:

Lets take a look at Dave.  Dave comes from an extremely good family, has an endless support system, has never had to worry about money, has had all his clothing and food bought for by his parents and was able to attend an excellent university which was financed by his parents.  Dave is set up for success. He has been given everything to succeed and will most likely get a great job out of college.  Tragedy strikes, Dave’s parents lose their jobs and now Dave has no money for college.  Dave is now experiencing a stress reaction which he has never had to deal with before and begins to crumble under the pressure.

Now, lets take a look at Chris. Chris comes from an extremely broken family.  He has no support, no financial help from his parents, buys all of his own clothes, has to deal with hunger pains often, has no direction in life, is constantly on the look out for gang related shootings which could end his life and does not have enough money for college. He’s learned from an early age to fight.  He does not give up and his determination to survive is fueled by the environment around him.  He jumps at opportunities that may better his life and is determined to start his own business.

What We Can Learn

From these two examples, can you guess who is the “conventionally grown” plant and who is the “wild grown” plant?  The stories of individuals coming from rags to riches is endless.  And, like wild plants, these individuals all have one very similar quality about them, the will to survive.  Stress is good when acted upon correctly.  Its what motivates us to move forward and to better our lives.

Super Foods: You Are What You Eat

What does this all have to do with wild plants?  Well, the answer is simple.  I’m a big believer in the phrase, “you are what you eat.”  Even Hippocrates, the true father of medicine, knew that food should be treated as our medicine.  By consuming wild plants, you are consuming all of that plants hard work (nutrients) that helped it adapt and survive in its environment.  By consuming wild plants, it will allow YOU to become better adapted and grounded to the stress of the environment.  We are what we eat, literally

Modern society has totally lost touch with Nature and all it has to offer.  We are conditioned to believe that food is only edible if it can be found in the grocery store.  Ask yourself this question:  If I were to drop you into the Appalachian Mountains or anywhere not tropical for that matter, what do you think your diet would be like?  Remember, nature knows best.