On Tue, 29 Jan 2002 09:39:46 -0500 Paul Getty <[log in to unmask]> writes:

> Grains and milk (as you say) were not completely foreign to humans.
> Grains must have been eaten to some degree, or else they never
> would have started to evolve into better and more useful plants

There's an ENORMOUS difference between getting the occasional bit of
partially digested grain from an animal's stomach, or chewing on an
occasional seed, and eating grain products on the scale that became
possible only with the development of advanced technology.  There are
many outright poisons that humans can consume in small amounts without
harm, so even considering the worst possible effects of large-scale grain
consumption, it isn't terribly surprising that tiny amounts of grains
wouldn't cause any noticeable problems.  For that matter, even the gross
effects of degenerative diseases, and the shortening of the lifespan
might not have been particularly noticed in primitive societies.  After
all, the advantages of an abundant, stationary, and relatively dependable
source of food were enormous.  While it might have reduced the quality
and length of life for older persons, it enhanced the quality of life and
security of the young and those of reproductive age.

If you compare the effect that pre-technological humans had on grain
evolution, compared to the effects of insects and herbivores (for
millions of years before anything remotely resembling humans even
existed), the plants probably wouldn't have noticed if humans never
existed.
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