Plants Stories

Before there were humans, there were plants. Throughout history, plants have nourished and inspired us in many different ways. Whether it's a tasty recipe, carefully-guarded healing cure, or creative projects in music and the arts, the impact of plants on the course of human cultures is astounding. Indeed, we humans have quite extensive and diverse relationships with plants. Despite laying down sturdy roots, plants are very active and influential. Their unique compositions of chemicals, colours, and dispersion have both helped and harmed us humans across time. They feed us, shelter us, help us dream, soothe our stresses, and more often than we'd like to admit -- kill us dead.

In efforts to capture, uplift, and showcase these dynamic inter-species relationships, the research institution Dumbarton Oaks coined the term "Plant Humanities" which "explores and communicates the unparalleled significance of plants to human culture."¹ Since its inception, interest and application of Plant Humanities, as an approach, initiative, and discipline, has grown considerably. This enthusiasm for plants has sprouted several fruitful collabrations across disciplines and sectors around the world.

Through Plant Humanities, we are able to better understand the overlapping connections human beings have with the nature which surrounds us. These exchanges enhance our affinity for protecting, preserving, and bolstering both biodiversity and biocultural diversity, which are increasingly threatened by the ongoing impacts of climate change.

Plants of Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is considered a "biodiversity hotspot" in mainland Southeast Asia.² Plants are very important in many parts of Cambodian day life and culture. They are eaten as food, made into medicines, used as decoration, and are incorporated into specific rituals for many rites of passage and community events. We began Plant Planet Plate as a way to share, safeguard, and celebrate the bio(cultural)diversity of Cambodia with plant enthusiasts all over the world.

Our Mission

To understand how people living in Oddar Meanchey Province, Cambodia collect, prepare, and use foraged plants in their daily lives as food, medicine, and beyond.
To highlight local plant species and cultural practices around them
To highlight glimpses of the local traditional ecological knowledge of the vibrant communities living around the province

Design & approaches

Our project uses a mix of theories and methods from the disciplines of ethnobotany, food studies, and medical anthropology. In order to capture individual thoughts, experiences, and perceptions of people with the plants around them we conducted semi-structured interviews. We asked people to explain to us their foraging habits, the different plant species they encounter, and how they use them. When possible, we accompanied these people to collect botanical specimens of the plants they were describing. We visited the protected Monk Community Forest, where we spoke to and were guided by several monks living there to better understand plants which abundantly grew around them. We hosted a "forage and feast" field trip with several local students from the Enfants du Mékong school joined our team for a foraging walk and lunch at the Monk Community Forest.

The compiled plant lists and names were segregated according to use and were cross-checked with available provincial botanical records at the National Herbarium of Cambodia at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. The following sources have been used to cross-check and identify scientific plant names:

The methodology outlined above received ethical approval from the Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche research ethics committee on March 31st, 2022 under resolution 2/2022;

At a glance:

Conducted 50 semi-structured interviews with people living across Oddar Meanchey Province in Khmer with live English field translation
Created a Plant Planet Plate Garden
Hosted 1 "Forage and Feast" field trip with Enfants du Mékong
Built 2 plant presses from local materials for the Agri-Tech Centre
Prepared plant specimens to be deposited into the National Herbarium of Cambodia

Our Team

Ashley Thuthao Keng Dam (they/them/theirs) Ashley Thuthao Keng Dam is a Khmer and Vietnamese American medical anthropologist, ethnobotanist, and food writer. As a National Geographic Society explorer, Thao was able to expand upon their doctoral research on the curative cuisines of Cambodia.

Muneezay Jaffery (she/her/hers) Muneezay Jaffery is the Operations Manager for Green Shoots Foundation https://greenshootsfoundation.org/, a UK registered Charity working in Cambodia since 2012. For the charity, Muneezay has worked on strategising and managing projects related to environmental education, chemical-free farming and sustainable diets. For Plant Planet Plate, Muneezay worked on data collection within the community, cross-verification of plant names and research for the database. Her favourite part of the project is its unique positioning between the natural environment, the innate plant knowledge within villages and the sustenance these plants offer. Muneezay graduated from University College London in 2010 with a Masters in Environmental Sociology (Environment, Science and Politics) and her final research thesis was on Mimicking and Mediating nature whilst practicing permaculture in 10 community gardens of London.

Bun Saloun (he/him/his) Bun Saloun is a local farmer and the Head Gardener of the Agri-Tech Centre’s growing spaces. Endlessly knowledgeable of local plant species and how to nourish them, he is the main caretaker of the Plant Planet Plate garden and its newly transplanted species.

Sarin Sak (he/him/his) Sarin Sak is the former Project Manager of the Agri-Tech Centre. He has over 20 years of experience in community development and is a farmer himself, where he focuses on vegetable gardening, cultivating mushrooms, and raising pigs. Sarin provided invaluable insights as a research assistant and field translator.

Sreypich Chhun (she/her/hers)

Sreypich Chhun is a master's student at the Royal University of Agriculture (Cambodia) majoring in Agricultural Extension. Also, she is a graduate research assistant supported by scholarship from the Center of Excellence on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification of Nutrition (CE SAIN). Under CE SAIN's project "S-3 Cambodia: Scaling Suitable Sustainable Technologies" framework she has conducted research for her thesis entitled "Assessment on Secondhand School Students' Knowledge and Perception Through the Training in Nutrition-based Wild Food plants Garden." Sreypich contributed to Plant Planet Plate as a research assistant and field translator.

Our Community

Plant Planet Plate is composed of the stories and insights of people living across Oddar Meanchey province. We are grateful for all the knowledge, stories, and plant-centered moments that they shared with us. This would not be possible without their support and guidance! អរគុណច្រើន

Plant Planet Plate has been generously funded by the National Geographic Society under their Explorer Grant Scheme (Grant Number: EC-95284R-22). This study was given ethical clearance by the Universita degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences) {Q2523033} Ethics Committee through resolution on March 31st, 2022.

Planet Planet Plate is a collaborative effort between academic institutions and NGOs based in Cambodia, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Namely: Maastricht University (The Netherlands), Green Shoots Foundation (United Kingdom), The Royal University of Phnom Penh, The National Herbarium of Cambodia, The Royal University of Agriculture (Cambodia), and the University of Battambang (Cambodia).

Plant Planet Plate also has a sister project based at Maastricht University called Plant Planet Plate Limburg which is also led by Dr. Ashley Thuthao Keng Dam. It is an inter-disciplinary and inter-faculty effort supported by Dr. Roy Erkens, Dr. Aodhán Kelly, and a team of dedicated research assistants and volunteers. Plant Planet Plate Limburg is generously funded by a UM Sustainability Seed Grant.