PLANTS IN THE CITY

Plant are essential for a lot of things. Plants are the main sources of food in most part of the world apart from animal source. Plants performs important role especially in sustaining the ecosystem and carrying out other ecological functions. We cannot begin to emphasize the importance of plant especially in urban areas. Urbanization is one of the major changes occurring in the world. Studies have shown that urbanization has a negative impact on biodiversity. Most times, the urbanization of town and cities occurs without proper planning. Usually, this results in highly damaging effects on forest, landscape and other green areas in the city. The effects of urbanization in cities is made more prominent by climate change. The scarcity of green plant is now a major concern in most urban city that are ecologically friendly. Even though they are trying to bring back green plants, the presence of the native plant of a particular area is still missing. Artificial plant has a low level of biodiversity when compared to the native plant species associated with a particular environment or locality. Climate change and global warming has been a trending topics these past few years. over the years, the rise in the average temperature of the earth is now a major concern for most countries in the world. Global warming is majorly caused by the action of humans. The activities of humans like burning of fossil fuel is one of the main causes of global warming and climate change. According to reports, the temperature is increasing over the years and is more prominent in the industrial era especially the industrialized nations. Urban farming is a way of making plants and animals available for consumption or other purposes in developed cities. This should be integrated in the planning of urban areas.

Importance of Plants in Urban Areas

• 1. They are good sources of oxygen: plants are one of the main sources of oxygen, which they produce as by-product. Oxygen is essential for our existence and is very important in the urban areas where the level of oxygen is low.
• 2. Clears carbon dioxide from the atmosphere: carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and one of the major causes of climate change and global warming. Plant requires this gas for their own use hence they soak it up from the atmosphere. Having enough plant and trees especially in industrial areas goes a long way in reducing the effects of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere.
• 3. As sources of food: plants are good sources of nutrients. It is one of the major sources of food in the world. Urban farming makes fresh plant available in cities and reduces the rate of consumption of processed food. Fresh produce contains all the nutrients which in most cases are absent in processed foods.
• 4. It clears the air: plants does not only absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it also have the ability to absorbs other green house gases that are toxic to humans. Most urban areas are industrialized area therefore they have a higher percentage of emissions.

Plant Consumed by People

Nowadays, a lot of plant can be found in the city due to the practice of urban agriculture. Plant are sources of important nutrients needed by the body. The plants consume can be vegetables or herbs.

Plant Consumed by People

Nutritional Value of Some Plants Consumed in the City

Celery: celery is one of the popular plants consumed in the city. Celery is used as ingredient in the preparation of some meal. Originally they were used as medicine in treating some ailment because of their medicinal properties. They are rich in micronutrients and low in fats and carbohydrates. They contains compounds that helps fight against chronic disease .

Nutritional Content of Celery

Lettuce: lettuce is a nutrition rich vegetable that is used in the preparation of different types of food. It is rich nutrients and vitamins. Although they are low in fiber, they have high water content which makes it suitable especially in hot weather.

Nutritional Content of Lettuce

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