Karl Elliot-Goughs seven chosen plants are supremely beneficial to mankind, yet if noticed at all are condemned as weeds. He passionately makes the case for how they can (and should) spearhead a revolution in tackling the diseased foundations of civilization. I love the audacity of it, the blend of deep research and personal experience, the fearlessness in taking on any authority or dogma, the costed solutions. I have so enjoyed my wild ride with Seven Plants to Save the World, and it leaps straight into my top ten list of all herbal books.
Matthew Seal, co-author of Hedgerow Medicine
This book focuses on seven plants that can change the world but has a much wider reach. It sets out a way forward that will make our soil healthier, our environment healthier, us humans healthier and ultimately, our economy and quality of life much better - for everyone. Our civilization can go the way of previous failed civilisations, but we understand how to make things right and this book shows the way to avoid the downfall that our ancestors suffered. The answer lies in the soil and in its products, of which we are the most dependent on the health of the plants and animals that the soil nourishes.
Craig Sams, co-founder of Whole Earth, Green & Blacks chocolate and Carbon Gold biochar, and chairman of The Soil Association
What an enthralling journey this book took me on. Outlining so much fascination about the seven plants. Here you will find solutions to a healthier soil, healthier humans and healthier society. This might be underground now but this book needs to become mainstream as soon as possible.
Paul Benhaim, chairman at The Hemp Plastic Company, CEO at Elixinol, and CBD company
Seven Plants to Save the World is a joyously exuberant deep dive into seven very familiar plants, plus a lot of fabulous rabbit holes of curiosity into the culinary, ethnobotanical, political, social and etymological delights of how these plants have interacted with us throughout our history. The seven plants chosen by Elliot-Gough have all sorts of stories to tell, and guide us back to holistic economies, health management, and sustainable social structures to support our health and wellbeing of the future. Although, as he joyfully observes, it is these same plants that appear to be following us around, is it not that they have chosen us?!
Anita Ralph, herbalist and author of Native Healers
Karl Elliot-Goughs book introduces us to the dizzying array of proven health benefits to be offered by the seven herbal champions under discussion. This allows us to fully appreciate the massive contribution that plants make to our health and wellbeing in all vital areas of life. It also provokes consideration of the skills of the professional herbalist and how an understanding of the complexities of plant-based medicine are demanding and go way beyond the mechanistic approach of symptomatic treatment. His ambitious and far-reaching book is packed full of facts and figures. A must read for anybody interested in restoring balance and healing to our culture and how we live on a global scale.
Mary Tassell, herbalist and author of Native Healers
A prodigious labour of love and a remarkable polemic against global consumer capitalism told with enormous energy and wit.
Julian Barker, herbalist and author of Physic and Human Health and its Maintenance
