Thank you to Linda Scott Cummings for the expert account of native
Northwest American food habits.  I'm glad someone else agrees that the diet
for at least some groups was high in fruits and sugars.  We don't have such
a strong instinctual desire/taste for sweetness for nothing.  Fat on the
other hand is comparatively tasteless.

But I wonder what an instinctual desire for sweetness offered?
Concentrated energy?  Only half as much as fat and no better than starch or
protein. Alternatively, perhaps sweetness was an obvious sign of the
carbohydrate that was essential for survival?  Any other suggestions?

I agree that we tend to ignore the contribution of insects.  Australian
Aborigines relished the 'wittchetty grub' (a huge moth larva) which has a
composition of 20% protein and 30% fat.

In table of Composition of Australian Aboriginal foods (1), there are 14
pages devoted to insect foods and their products, including bobong moths (a
staple food for months of the year for some groups), honey ants, sugar bag,
galls, lerps, green ants.

Kind regards Jennie

(1)  Brand Miller J, James K, Maggiore P.  Tables of composition of
Australian Aboriginal bushfoods.  Aboriginal Studies Press: Canberra, 1993


Jennie Brand Miller  PhD
Associate Professor in Human Nutrition
Department of Biochemistry  G08
University of Sydney
NSW 2006  Australia
Phone: (61 2) 9351 3759
Fax: (61 2) 9351 6022