On Jan 7, 2007, at 10:10 AM, DS wrote:

> I am wondering how to determine biologically appropriate foods for  
> a given area. I grew up in USSR. I found this info on Russian diets  
> and this is congruent with the foods that I grew up on.

You grew up in USSR. But where are human beings from? The food  
culture you describe is of course a product of agriculture. It is  
native only in the sense that it was developed locally, and existed  
undiluted by foreign influence for some time. But, before that, what  
could hominids eat if they existed in that area? Before agriculture,  
there was no dairy, no grain, certainly no liquor - the balance of  
the diet, the "plentiful fish, poultry, game..." etc. is Paleo. You  
can certainly get very close to Paleo even using spices and cooking  
things, and some crop foods are closer to wild than others. We have  
some pretty good reasons to avoid beans and other legumes, and some  
New World vegetables that aren't likely to be found in Russia anyway,  
but you could eat roots like beets and carrots and turnips and  
rutabagas, and all leafy greens, like kale and collards, and of  
course all fruits. I'd say that if you avoid bread and grain products  
you will be mostly there - the rest is refinement.

Since grain crops initially enabled, and continue to enable, feeding  
large groups cheaply, they are an inextricable part of most  
civilizations, almost by definition. When saying "what shall I eat?",  
the most readily available choices will be mostly grain. The  
limitation this puts on you will be difficult in every culture, but  
worth it.


ginny


All stunts performed without a net!