Re: Fishy Website! (Or is it just me??)

"pearl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:...

Quoted message said:

"MattLB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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st7 said:

Rob wrote:
> I'm sure you already know that certain natural toxins are destroyed by
> the cooking.

So you avoid those foods that are toxic in the raw state.

Interestingly in the context of human diet history many of what are
today edible vegetables weren't before the dawn of agriculture and the
selective breeding of certain crops to make them more palatable or less
toxic. Most vegetables, unlike fruit, come from parts of the plant that
the plant doesn't want you to eat and in the original varieties would
have been toxic, bitter-tasting or both - so probably weren't part of
the ancient hominid diet.

But most 'vegetables' are actually the plants' fruit. And...

'Throughout the earth's geological history (4.5 billion years),
large scale forces of nature such as global climate change,
movements of continents, and geological variations induced
by sun, rains and the winds, gave rise to a variety of life forms
including a diversity of plain communities. An even more
diverse array of herbivorous animals, ranging from tiny
grasshoppers to giant elephants evolved to crop this vegetation.
This complement of herbivores included several large mammals
ancestral to the present day deer, pigs, wild cattle, tapirs, rhinos
and elephants. Such a community of ungulates is not a mere
collection of individual species, but an intricate, ecological web
in which large species feed on coarser plants, providing paths
and access for smaller ones, and each ungulate specialises to
feed on different plant species, plant parts or different stages
of plant growth. ..
..'
http://www.rareearthexplorations.com/wildindia/tiger/tiger.htm

Of course that also applies to primates and plant foods.

Quoted message said:

Any attempt, therefore, to claim that eating
modern cultivated vegetables and fruit is somehow closer to our ancient
ancestors' natural diet is misguided

The plant foods we eat may be selected for desirable qualities,
but they are still the genetic descendants of edible plant foods.

.....

'There are hundreds of fascinating, delicious wild vegetables,
fruits, nuts, and seeds, and herbs growing in our neighborhoods,
backyards, parks and forests that we overlook and disregard.
Many are easy-to-recognize renewable resources you can easily
collect and enjoy, with no harm to the environment. Many are
the same prolific "weeds" we unsuccessfully try to destroy.
When you know what they are and begin to use them, you’ll
discover that they are tastier, as well as more nutritious, than
anything you can buy, and they’re completely free.

This book is will introduce you to the world of foraging and
nature. We cover the most common, useful wild plants of the
continental United States (with the exception of subtropical
Florida, which has a different, specialized flora) and Southern
Canada, with the basics of what you need to know to identify,
collect, use, and appreciate them. My years as a naturalist
draw on pertinent science, nutrition, folklore, and personal
experiences to put the plants in context.
....'
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Books.Folder/I%20&%20H%20Folder/Intro%20to%20Foraging.html