"30 plants a week" means eating 30 different plant foods over seven days. Not 30 portions. Thirty different kinds.
Fruit and vegetables count, but so do the things people forget: beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Oats at breakfast, a handful of walnuts, chickpeas in a salad, cumin in the dinner. That's four already.
Each plant counts once per week, however often you eat it. Five bananas is one plant. A banana, a pear and some blueberries is three.
Why people do it
The idea came out of microbiome research, and it caught on because it's a rare food rule that's about adding rather than cutting. Nothing is banned. Most people who try it find their week is more repetitive than they thought, and the counting alone nudges them to pick up a different kind of lentil next time.
How to keep count
You can tally on paper, in a notes app, or with an app built for it. We make one, called Eating30. You tap the plants you ate, a circle fills up towards 30, and the count resets when your new week starts. Herbs and spices can go in as a quarter or a half, which is how a lot of people like to count them.
If 30 sounds like a lot, count an ordinary week first and see where you land. Getting from there to 30 is usually herbs, seeds and one more tin of beans, not a new diet.
The longer read
What Is the 30 Plants a Week Challenge?
Understand the 30 plants a week goal, what foods count, and why plant diversity matters more than perfection.
Eating30 is an app for iPhone and Android that counts the different plants you eat each week, with 30 as the target. The core tracking is free. It's a habit tracker, not medical advice.
Count your plants with Eating30
Tap the plants you eat and watch your week fill up towards 30.