7 ms·

I've been on long hikes through the woods where few people tread. One thing I've noticed, is the apparent scarcity of food: at least food that we recognize as

I've been on long hikes through the woods where few people tread. One thing I've noticed, is the apparent scarcity of food: at least food that we recognize as "food". There's no animals to hunt for, no bird's nest, no wild animals, even after a 4 hour long hike. No berries, no blueberries or anything fancy like that. What there is quite a bit of is edible greens: dandelions, oxylis, purslane, amaranth, lots of edible green plants and weeds. I can only imagine that our ancestors must of lived off greens. Modern day studies of wild human tribes in africa that really do live the way people lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, actually mainly subsist on greens. They've been studied, and the researchers have noted that they basically graze on leafy green vegetables all days, lucky to find anything else. As, the article alluded to, hunger was the norm, pretty much all day, everyday. This day and age, people think of hunger as an anomoly, a problem, something you can't experience for more than a few minutes without going crazy.

drewnick 6y ago
Fair point, but it depends on where you live. Many places have lots of smaller animals like squirrels and rabbits. Even some deserts have rabbits and field mice, etc.
- pascalxus 6y ago
  But, those animals are trained to stay away from humans. You won't see them out in the wilderness, at least not for long. And, you won't be able to catch up to one in the brushes where there's thorns, bushes, and all kinds of stuff that can stick you.
  - veggieburglar 6y ago
    You won’t see them while you’re hiking, because you’re making lots of noise and likely not out at the right times. Hunting , especially primitive hunting, is usually either lots of traps and snares or lots and lots of waiting.
  - how_gauche 6y ago
    Where I'm from we catch rabbits with snares.
depressedpanda 6y ago
There's a reason hunter-gatherers were nomadic. If food became scarce in one area they moved to a place where it was more bountiful. > I can only imagine that our ancestors must of lived off greens. Yes. Greens in addition to meat, fish, fruit, berries etc. Living off greens only will lead to malnourishment. We're omnivores after all.

drewnick 6y ago

Fair point, but it depends on where you live. Many places have lots of smaller animals like squirrels and rabbits. Even some deserts have rabbits and field mice, etc.

pascalxus 6y ago
But, those animals are trained to stay away from humans. You won't see them out in the wilderness, at least not for long. And, you won't be able to catch up to one in the brushes where there's thorns, bushes, and all kinds of stuff that can stick you.
- veggieburglar 6y ago
  You won’t see them while you’re hiking, because you’re making lots of noise and likely not out at the right times. Hunting , especially primitive hunting, is usually either lots of traps and snares or lots and lots of waiting.
- how_gauche 6y ago
  Where I'm from we catch rabbits with snares.

depressedpanda 6y ago

There's a reason hunter-gatherers were nomadic. If food became scarce in one area they moved to a place where it was more bountiful. > I can only imagine that our ancestors must of lived off greens. Yes. Greens in addition to meat, fish, fruit, berries etc. Living off greens only will lead to malnourishment. We're omnivores after all.