There is a need to free up land so that species besides ourselves have space to live and move and eat. This is not just being nice to our neighbours, but is a strategy for survival. A changing climate is a symptom of an ecosystem that has been put out of balance by an out of control population increase of one species and the animals it feeds on. It will not be solved by driving more fuel inefficient vehicles and putting up insulation (although that might help). It can be solved by changing the way we eat.

Research at the University of Chicago has shown that the average ‘burger man’ emits the equivalent of 1.5 tonnes more CO2 per year than the average vegan who eats no animal products. This is brought about by the extra cultivating, fertilizing, chemical spraying and transportation involved in modern animal farming.

Leafcurd production is the most efficient known system of producing protein from the land. Protein is manufactured in leaves and translocated from there into other parts of the plant. Protein is concentrated in seeds and then further concentrated in the flesh of the birds and animals that eat them. By extracting the protein straight from the leaves we increase the efficiency of production manyfold.

Sheep grazing 1Ha of land produce about 85kg of edible protein in a six month growing season. The same hectare may produce 660kg of edible protein if soya beans were grown, or over 1000kg of edible protein if lucerne was grown and made into leafcurd. Lucerne is another commonly used plant and very useful in drier parts of the world.

Eating is one activity that whatever else we do or don’t do, we must still carry on doing. The production and consumption of leafcurd has a major role in bringing back our planet into some sort of balance by dramatically reducing the area of land necessary to feed our population and releasing space for trees and wildlife. It will also improve our health.

Vitamins and minerals in Lucerne Leaf Curd

Component	Daily requirement -RE		Current in 10gms dried Lucerne Leaf Curd
	Child 4-9 yrs	Adult
Beta Carotene (Vit A)	600µg	800µg	920µg
Vitamin E	7mg	12mg	3mg
Vitamin K	25µg	35-55µg	300µg
Folic Acid	200µg	300-500µg	30µg
Calcium	600-700mg	900-1200mg	320mg
Phosphorous	500-600mg	800-1000mg	70mg
Potassium	1000-2000mg	1000-2000mg	70mg
Magnesium	120-180mg	330-480mg	13mg
Iron	10mg	10-18mg	7mg
Zinc	10mg	12-19mg	200µg
Manganese	1-2mg	4mg	600µg
Copper	1-1.5mg	2-3mg	78µg
Cobalt			10µg
Iodine	70-120µg	150-200µg	3µg
Selenium	20-30µg	55-75µg	0.5-1µg

info@leafcycle.co.uk - Food Resource - Promoting Health - Eat Greens