As we explore trends in plant-based eating, I’m reminded of all the other good things that plants make possible in our lives. In fact, I can say with confidence that we take plants for granted. Probably the first thing everyone thinks of about plants is eating them. Maybe that’s why we’ve almost evolved to the point where we’re pushing ourselves to avoid doing all the“bad” (unhealthy and environmentally damaging) things to our plant food that we’ve been doing. Then there are the plants we like to wear; after all, cotton is “the fabric of our lives”. Although there are many more plant-based fabrics available, none are or have ever been as widely used as cotton. But cotton is quickly fading from its dominant position and giving way to expedient, but environmentally undesirable alternatives. Most manmade fabrics give off a lot of pollution in the form of nano-plastics, which when breathed in, can permeate our lung cells. 

Then there’s the once-widespread use of plants as medicine, in which there is recent renewed appreciation. Today, at least 120 important drugs derived from plants are in use around the world, and about 40 percent of our drugs in the Western world are derived from plants, including aspirin, caffeine, digitalis, morphine and codeine. Not to go unmentioned is the use of plants in aesthetic beauty products; the calming effects of some plants; and their all-important role in carbon sequestration—that is, they remove carbon from our atmosphere and store it in the soil and their root systems.

All this is causing me to muse about what life and the world would be like if there were no plants. All signs point to a dismal state of affairs—a life that would be uninteresting, unkind and  probably unsafe. It also causes me to wonder which became a staple of our diet first, plants or meat. Well, our instruction manual sheds a lot of light on that issue. Genesis 1:29 states, “Here, I have given you every plant whose seed can be sown which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree which has the fruit whose seed can be sown, for it shall be to eat.” Later on, the Bible does provide for eating certain kinds of meat, as long as the “life blood” is not eaten; it makes clear that eating the plants that God so graciously provided is the higher level of being. Plus, being an herbivore is easier and healthier. Fruits and vegetables don’t run away from us, and  they’re not terribly calorie-dense.

Researchers are consistently telling us more urgently every day that a global switch to diets that rely less on meat and more on fruits and vegetables could save up to 8 million lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds and lead to healthcare-related savings and avoided climate damages of $1.5 trillion.

As Carrie Jackson tells us in our feature article, “Plant-Based Eating Goes Mainstream,” we are finally beginning to act on our knowledge and ancient experience that plant-based eating is better for our health and the health of the planet. Even North Texas’s five professional sports teams now boast plant-based foods at their home stadiums. We even have a news brief in this month’s issue about new plant-based offerings at our FC Dallas games. We also hear from a North Texas vascular surgeon, Dr. Rizwan Bukhari, who has long extolled the health benefits of plant-based diets. Then Marlaina Donato gives us some tips for survival when we regularly get our exercise on weekends only.

As always, this month’s issue of Natural Awakenings is chock full of timely, insightful and actionable information intended to motivate and inspire you. We hope you’ll find much in our magazine that will help you on journey to living a healthier life on a healthy planet.

Blessings until next month,