How Many Plant Foods Are There? An Exploration of Edible Plant Diversity
                                
                                
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                                    3 min read                                
                            
                                According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), between 7,000 and 30,000 plant species are considered edible by humans, though we rely on just a handful of these for most of our caloric intake. This astonishing range highlights a major gap between the potential and reality of our dietary habits, with the vast majority of edible plant diversity remaining unexplored in modern diets.