On Jun 25, 2004, at 7:12 pm, Jim Swayze wrote:
> Why in the world we always come up with new and innovative ways to
> consume what we shouldn't continues to amaze me.

Just before I went to bed last night I realised something.  This topic
is proof of the instinct that is possibly what made humans the most
successful species on the planet- to eat anything we can, and find ways
to process anything we can't already eat into an edible form.  Early
neolithic farmers were only hoping to provide a regular supply of food
when they started refining grains.  It's unfortunate that it was the
start of a slippery slope of illness, but it has helped us populate
Earth like cockroaches.

Before we stumbled on the new range of semi-poisonous foods, we
probably tried to eat absolutely anything.  (Maybe we tested new food
on dogs that followed us around?)  You only have to look at the Chinese
to see how resourceful people can be with food.

I think what it comes down to is that we now have a fish-out-of-water
instinct- we can process *too much* into an edible form, when we should
be happy with the food we have.  It's a bit like the instinct of a
mother to feed her children as much as she can (it comes in different
degrees- mine almost force-feeds me), as this is not necessary now that
food is plentiful.  Or you could compare it to people in northern
Europe who are terrified of snakes or spiders- there are no poisonous
examples around, but the instinct is still there.

Ashley