“Look, Daddy,” she said. “It’s the same species.”

It was a proud dad moment for this self-proclaimed amateur botanist. In our home garden, we often enjoy putting on our invisible botanical goggles. We look at plants, investigate and eat edible flowers and talk about all of the different plant species.

The United Nations also has a pair of botanical goggles and occasionally puts them on to study the world. The last time they used them, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that there are 20,000 edible plant species in the world, and 6,000 of them have historically been used for food. However, of those edible plants, fewer than 200 made a major contribution to food production in 2019— and only nine were used for two-thirds of the world’s food production.

Nine crops! For two-thirds of all food production!

This is what crop monoculture looks like on a global scale. This lack of crop diversity is bad on many levels. A lot of our “big problems”—like climate change, environmental degradation, polluted water, ecosystem collapse, and dwindling food sovereignty—are connected to declining agro-biodiversity and large-scale industrial agriculture. It’s true that these big problems need a big collective response, but I also believe individual empowerment and crop diversity are important on a very personal level.

Our own bodies tend to thrive when exposed to crop diversity. Take our guts, for example. Good gut health has been linked to many positive health outcomes, including mental health, blood sugar regulation and a strengthened immune system. 

The basic message when it comes to gut health is that we need to cultivate a diverse gut microbiome (the trillions of bacteria that live in our gut) and gut health scientist and registered dietitian Megan Rossi, PhD, author of How to Eat More Plants and Love Your Gut, has written that the easiest way to improve gut health is to eat a wide variety of plants.

“This approach is enriching, not restricting; inclusive, not exclusive,” she says in the book. “More plants, more variety, more fiber, more flavor. I call it the Diversity Diet.”

If diversity is key, then this is where you need to grab your own set of botanical goggles, and investigate your pantry, shopping cart, garden or restaurant menu.

For instance, I’m always amazed that collards, kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts all belong to the same species (Brassica oleracea)! They may look like different crops, but they all actually stem from the same plant—a wild mustard plant—that has been bred over hundreds of years to produce different traits, selected for size and edibility. 

Turnips, rutabaga, radishes, horseradish, bok choy, watercress, arugula and mustard greens are all cousins in the same Brassica family. Certainly different crops, but not a massive amount of botanical diversity. We see similar relational patterns in other commonly eaten plant families:

Squash family: summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, melons, watermelons, cucumbers, chayote, bitter melon, gourds

Nightshade family: tomatoes, peppers (hot and sweet), eggplants, potatoes

Legume family: beans, peas, southern peas, soybeans (edamame), peanuts

To be clear, it’s not bad to eat any of these things, but it’s quite likely that many of us eat a majority of our foods from just a small handful of plant families.

When it comes to gut health, Rossi suggests trying to consume at least 30 different plant types a week. It shouldn’t be that hard. I’ve seen ube, taro and cassava at the store; I know local farmers are growing and selling sorghum, pawpaws and many kinds of mushrooms—representing all sorts of different botanical families. We have local herb and spice companies selling regionally foraged ingredients and responsibly sourced spices. And if you’re lucky enough to have access to land, then I guarantee at least an edible weed or two could make it into a meal!

So the real call to action here is to be adventurous, to try something new and embrace the diversity the food system has to offer. Your health and your taste buds will thank you for it.