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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ambrus" data-source="post: 2368388" data-attributes="member: 17691">I think people are perhaps missing the obvious, the members of our species didn't just go around carefully testing various materials to determine their edibility out of curiosity; they did it out of desperation. We are so blessed with an abundance of food nowadays that I think we often forget that, for the majority of our species' existence, our ancestors were often running around desperately trying to find their (and their offspring's) next meal. Droughts happen and plants dry up and disappear, a blight hits and crops rot in the ground, a virus mutates and wildlife and livestock are falling over dead... Famine has been an ever present companion of our species. When there were no fish, we tried eating shell-fish or snails. When crops disappeared, we tried mushrooms, flowers and tree bark. When meat turned rancid we tried hiding the taste with spices so that we could try to stomach it. Some of it turned out to be edible so people kept on eating it, even when the famine was over; that's how some cultures developed strange delicacies. That's how cannibalism came about in some cultures; when people get hungry enough they'll try eating anything... I imagine cow's milk as a staple was relatively simple to figure out as compared to, say, how to catch and prepare a poisonous snake for you and your family to eat.Of all the species of earth, humans have the widest variety in their diet. It's that versatility that has allowed us survive as a species and to successfully live in every climate on earth.</blockquote>

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