Thanks for the welcome Theola.

"Carpet snakes were caught by the neck, and father has several times seen a
native catch and then feel a carpet snake, and if he were poor (in fat) let
him go (Petrie 1904:81)"

Perfect example of the luxury of choice to override a chance to eat.


I think we are in agreement  that only when a diet is broad enough (luxury?)
and provides adequate calories can people sometimes allow themselves to pass
up food.
There may be other factors involved though.  For instance perhaps through
experience these people were aware of the downside of eating lean protein
without adequate fat (or carbohydrate) resulting in Protein starvation (aka
Rabbit Fever) or, since fat is a component of taste maybe it was a taste
consideration

>  If the animal is  'njuka' or fatless, it is usually left unless they are
themselves starving"

"Starving" says it all as the converse of  luxury.  In a starving state,
people have been known to eat just about anything they can lay their hands
on.  The only qualifier I can add is that "starving" is a subjective state
long before it becomes a deadly one, and it's a powerful motivator to eat
whatever's available.

Yes there are many examples of foods that are considered survival foods
around the world that are only eaten when circumstances are dire (e.g. Cycad
starch on Guam, and many other examples)

Cheers

Sean McBride
University of Queensland
Brisbane, Australia