Preparing a foodstuff for human or animal consumption by sowing seeds of at least one quick-germinating plant of a type such as to produce strong root systems in peat which is allowed to lie in a layer having a thickness in the range of from 40 to 200 mm for a vegetation period of from 10 to 21 days, there being at least 900 Kg of seeds per hectare of the layer and recovering the germinated seeds and the peat as the foodstuff.