SUMMARY. In this edition of ‘Lesefrüchte’ (Reading Fruits), we combine two perspectives: ‘Essbar sein’ (Being Edible) opens up a philosophical view of our ecological connectedness, while ‘Trees with Edible Leaves’ provides practical inspiration for edible landscapes. Together, both books show how thinking and acting can grow in harmony.
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Trees with Edible Leaves
Trees with Edible Leaves by Eric Toensmeier opens up a fascinating world: tree leaves as a source of food, structure and nutritional value. The book describes over a hundred tree species from tropical and cold climates whose leaves are rich in protein and other nutrients. Toensmeier shows how easy these trees are to care for and how they contribute to climate adaptation and resilient food production.
Das Handbuch kann kostenlos über das Perennial Agriculture Institute heruntergeladen werden und erscheint in immer mehr Sprachen – darunter bald auch Spanisch. Sind Sie an Übersetzungen interessiert oder möchten Sie mithelfen? Dann kontaktieren Sie uns über die Website des Instituts.
Read more or download the book at: https://perennialagriculture.institute/blog/.
Essbar sein
In his book Essbar sein. Versuch einer biologischen Mystik (Being Edible: An Attempt at Biological Mysticism), biologist and philosopher Andreas Weber poses a radical question: How can humans truly be ‘edible’ in the ecological structure? His starting point is the ecological imperative he formulates as ‘being edible’ – a thought that is both poetic and challenging.
Weber writes: “Humans refuse to be edible. That is their ecological peculiarity – and that is their ecological bestiality.” What he means is that nothing living exists without constant give and take, without mortality, without permeability. Life arises by being consumed – again and again, incessantly. This idea runs like a thread through the book. Weber puts it as follows: ‘Nothing is more unecological than immortality. Nothing is less egalitarian in a world of mortals, in a world that thrives on being edible and can only be reborn every day in this way.’
The vision behind this: an understanding of humanity that no longer makes egocentricity and immortality the standard. For, as Weber writes: ‘To put one’s own ego in the foreground is to claim immortality. That is the ecological mortal sin.’
‘Being edible’ is thus not only a philosophical image, but an impulse to rethink our role in the world around us – radically, vividly and deeply ecologically. Link