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So in your typical NYC grass you have: dandelion, chicory, common mallow, burdock, curly dock, bitter dock, red clover, plantain, various onions and mustards, e
by Alex3917 10y ago
So in your typical NYC grass you have: dandelion, chicory, common mallow, burdock, curly dock, bitter dock, red clover, plantain, various onions and mustards, etc. All of that stuff gets pretty big very fast if you don't mow over it. Obviously you still can't feed yourself on only plants, but the quantity of edible plants would probably outstrip the number of people who knew what they were. NYC has 30,000 acres of public parks, and tons more unofficial open space.
- PhasmaFelis 10y agoJust because you can eat something doesn't mean it will keep you alive. Dandelion greens, for example, definitely don't provide enough calories to make up for what you spend gathering them. I'm not sure they have enough to make up for just the effort of chewing and digesting them. Everything you've mentioned there is just greens except for the plantains and onions, which will certainly be stripped bare in days. The rest might liven up a salad, but it definitely won't give you the protein and calories to stave off starvation.
- Alex3917 10y agoRed clover actually has a lot of protein. The folks who survived the Irish potato famine were the ones who never abandoned the traditional Celtic practice of eating clover in favor of potatoes.
- PhasmaFelis 10y agoMaybe so. You still won't meet your bulk calorie needs from greens alone.