On Wed, 27 Feb 2002, Jim Swayze wrote:

> Todd > For obvious reasons, paleo people would prefer calorically dense
> foods, since the energy yield compared to the energy needed to get them is
> greater.
>
> While that's a good general rule, you're assuming scarcity which was not
> common.  There was generally a great abundance of food available.  Scarcity
> was increased exponentially by the neolithic revolution and its consequent
> population explosions.

No, the optimal foraging rule doesn't assume scarcity.  It
stipulates that the preferred foods will be those with the
highest ratio of caloric return for calories used up in obtaining
them.  Fruits are an obvious example.  When they are in season,
it doesn't take much to harvest them, but they provide a lot of
energy.  Even with abundant foods available, people will still
want the biggest bang for their foraging buck.  Since sweet
potatoes are relatively energy-dense, I don't see why they
wouldn't be a preferred food when available.

Todd Moody
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