> Over 60 species of grasses have been harvested for their
grains in Africa.
> Most of these are famine or scarcity foods or are
harvested casually and
> opportunistically. Several species, however, have
provided food on a
> massive scale and have been staples for a number of
tribes.
If you had been living in a rural area as a child you would
know that grass stem tips and seeds such as oats were foods
of opportunity that we ate as we walked along- Therefore
our ancestors probably did the same. AND in times of
distress I feel that it would have made three meals a day
however scant!
So any seeds however small were probably eaten. A hungry
person is very inventive. Ergo "Birds Nest Soup!".
The starving Irish were sometimes said to be found dead with
a green mouth from eating grass, had they eaten seeds they
may have been found alive; however it was most probably a
time of year when there were no seeds.
It seems to me that to say cereal seed were not eaten on an
"as available" basis long before cultivation; ignores
reality.
Best Regards, Lorenzo