I am going to answer this in a slightly different way than my two
friends, Ron and Geoff.

The human hunting and gatherering economy was in place by 2.5 million
years ago.  Rarely, if ever, were grains and dairy consumed in any form.
 Only meat, bugs, fruits, vegetables, nuts in season.  There is some
debate as to whether we scavenged most of our meat early on and when
cooking began and its significance.  But what we consumed is not really
open to much debate.

Now to change gears slightly.  From an American demographic perspective,
where 59% of the population is white, 15% latino, and 14% black (all
groups relatively new to the neolithic or non-hunter-gatherer way of
eating), the overwhelming majority have been eating neolithic foods such
as grains and dairy for something close to 2000 years.

So if time were distance -- and our time here on earth were one mile --
we've been consuming the fruits of agriculture for about 54 inches.


Jim Swayze
www.fireholecanyon.com