Food Plants International database of edible plants of the world, a free resource for all

Abstract

Fitting food plants into biomes or zones where they grow most naturally remains a challenge and an on-going task. Because the target is feeding people well, agro-sociology must be integral to this agro-ecological task. The increasing pressure on scarce water supplies and growing awareness of environmental pollution and food contamination makes this long-term goal highly desirable. Enriching diets and eating lower on the food chain where plants predominate over meat offers sustainable hope for the future. The Food Plants International database covering 27,000 edible plant species continues to make a significant contribution towards this goal. Increasingly attention is being given to people's food plant preferences and improved ways of preparation to ensuring good nutrition as well as appealing meals. The presentation will provide disks of the database and highlight ways it can be used to focus attention on attractive foods produced sustainably based on a wide range of locally well-adapted food plant resources. The database documents 4,973 edible plants in India, 1,170 in Sri Lanka and 11,155 for the broader Asia region.