Re: Eating "Naturally"
- From: "TC" <tunderbar@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 16 Mar 2006 13:42:51 -0800
George Cherry wrote:
Here's my take on what's "natural" for humankind to eat.
I'm talking here about our GENOME, which was formed
a long time before domesticated animals, agriculture,
and supermarkets. My ancient, ancient ancestors (whose
genome was very, very similar to mine) were hunter-
gatherers who successfully gathered a greater deal more
than they successfully hunted. It's really hard to down
an ungulate with a stick or a rock, especially when the
deer or antelope can run 3-4 times faster than you. So
these Paleolithic guys and gals ate lots of stuff that they
could pull out of the ground or off trees or pick off bushes.
I channel a Paleolithic guy named Geeorgius who assures
me he ate mostly veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds. The
most sophisticated food preparation thing he did was
soak grains overnight in water in a hollow gourd so that
he could chew and digest them. He got to eat meat about
once or twice a year when he got really lucky throwing
a rock at a rabbit or chasing a coyote away from an antelope
it downed. I have science to back me up. The only essential
vitamin or mineral found only in meat (not in plant foods)
is vitamin B-12. The human body can store B-12 for
many years. So if you eat meat about once every year,
you're all set with respect to what you need from meat.
As for milk, I agree that it's unnatural for human adults
to drink it. However, my ancestors did gather eggs.
BTW, there's plenty of protein in nuts, seeds, legumes,
and grains. So, I'm a "near vegan", which accords well
with my desire not to cause any more suffering than
really necessary.
George
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/foodanddrink/
Australian Food and Drink
Native Australians and Early Settlers
Aboriginals' Food Sources
Before white settlement, Aboriginal people survived off the native
plants and animals of the Australian environment for thousands of
years. Across the many different environments of Australia, they knew
how to find food and water.
Native mammals and birds such as kangaroo, wallaby and emu were
regularly hunted and killed. Although animals were sometimes thrown
straight onto the fire for cooking, there were a variety of preparation
and cooking techniques.
Goose egg hunting by George Malibirr 1934-1998, Gurrumba Gurrumba clan,
Ramingining, Ngalyindi country in Central Arnhem Land
Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia
Other foods that seem less palatable to modern urban Australians - such
as witchetty grubs, lizards, snakes and moths - were greatly valued.
Bush foods such as berries, roots and nectars were a vital part of the
aboriginal diet in many areas. Often these required advanced
preparation techniques to neutralise toxins and to make them palatable
and nutritious.
In certain coastal areas, shellfish were plentiful and easily
harvested. Aboriginals also caught fish in the oceans and rivers using
hooks, spears and fish traps.
Aboriginal groups would often travel from season to season; moving to
where they knew various food sources would be available. One such
source was the annual Bogong moth migrations to New South Wales.
The more bountiful the area a tribe lived in, the less nomadic they
were forced to be. Desert dwellers may have been on the move constantly
searching for food, while coastal tribes may have remained reasonably
static.
Certain Aboriginal groups did more than just survive - they thrived.
Some white explorers reported meeting groups of aboriginals from time
to time that appeared especially healthy and well fed.
But living off the land also meant that from area-to-area and
season-to-season there were also times of hardship.
Food for Australia's Early Settlers
Upon arrival in Australia, the early settlers were confronted by a
landscape and range of plants and animals that were largely foreign to
them. In many places, even fresh water was scarce, especially in
comparison to the rain-soaked fields of Britain and Ireland.
There were some familiar animals; wild swans, ducks, geese and pigeons
that were similar to their European cousins. The oceans and rivers were
full of fish and eels that were not too dissimilar from the European
varieties. But other game was foreign and challenging to their British
tastes.
Some settlers were driven by curiosity or necessity to hunt and eat the
native mammals. Stuffed wombat and fried echidna were on the menu in
early settlements in Van Diemen's Land, as Tasmania was known in those
times.
But largely, the early settlers set their hands to producing European
crops and raising European herd animals for food. Over the years, they
introduced European game animals such as deer and rabbits for hunting.
Many of these animals thrived in their new home and have since become
pests to Australian farmers and environmentalists.
Flour was a staple item of the early settler's diet. It was usually
made into bread or damper (a dense, thick bread).
The available meat was usually beef, pork or mutton (the meat of adult
sheep). As there was no refrigeration, it was usually salted or dried
to preserve it.
Tea was the staple drink and considered a necessity, even when other
items were scarce.
Salt was highly prized for flavour and for preserving meat.
The settlers brought rum with them, and the fledgling colonies soon
developed the capacity to produce it themselves. Rum was such a valued
commodity that it became the key currency in the early years of
settlement.
Food for Australia's Early Explorers
Australia's explorers of the early 1800s usually set off with hundreds
of pounds of flour, dozens of pounds of tea and a generous amount of
salt and sugar. They brought sheep or cattle for food. The oxen, and
sometimes horses, had the dual role of beast of burden and food source
when they were needed.
Some explorers, such as Ludwig Leichhardt, were keen to observe and
learn from Aboriginal food gathering and eating habits. They interacted
with Aboriginals they met and exchanged food.
According to Leichhardt's journals, members of his successful 1844-1845
expedition of 4,800 kilometres from Darling Downs in Queensland to
Point Essington in Northern Western Australia owed their lives to the
hunting and survival skills of its two Aboriginal guides, Charley
Fisher and Harry Brown. They hunted game to supplement the group's
provisions, catching animals such as flying foxes and magpie geese to
add to the pot on many occasions. They gathered salt were it occurred
naturally along riverbanks, washed in from the ocean.
By contrast other explorers, such as Edmund Kennedy and Burke and Wills
preferred to kill and eat their own pack animals rather than hunt game
or fish to supplement their supplies. Only when their provisions had
dwindled to the point that the party was facing starvation, scurvy and
dysentery did they hunt and gather food or accept the generous gifts of
food presented by the friendly Aboriginals they met.
Rabbit and other Meat during the Great Depression
Motor lorry loaded with 1,760 pairs of rabbits, c1918
Image courtesy of National Library of Australia: nla.pic-an24664485
During the tough economic times of the Great Depression of the 1930s,
the rabbit became a welcome commodity rather than the pest it had been
to farmers. The skins could be sold for money and the meat was often
the only option available to poor families. Rabbits could be caught
fairly readily even in the outskirts of big cities such as Melbourne,
in suburbs that are now densely populated.
In the 1990s, after years of being shunned as 'underground mutton',
rabbit overcame much of its depression-time reputation as the poor
person's last resort. It has been reintroduced as a respected and even
fashionable gourmet food in Australian restaurants and public bars.
Whether valued exclusively for their taste or in combination with a
sense of nostalgia for earlier times, other cuts of meat and offal that
were once only eaten by poor people who could not afford anything else
- such as ox tail, lamb shanks and kidney - have found their way onto
menus in even the most expensive restaurants in Australia.
Multicultural Influences on Australian Cuisine
Early and 20th Century European immigrants such as Germans, Italians
and French helped to pioneer and grow the Australian wine industry that
had become so healthy by the 21st century.
Immigration to Australia since 1945 has had a major multicultural
impact upon Australian culture, and in particular upon what Australians
eat and drink. For example, European migrants brought with them a
preference for espresso coffee. This has overtaken tea as the most
popular hot beverage ordered in restaurants and cafes. Pasta dishes,
another staple of many European countries, are one of the most popular
choices on the menu for many Australians.
Where once the Australian diet was based strongly upon its British and
Irish heritage, by the end of the 20th century, Australians were
regularly enjoying Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese
cuisines cooked in restaurants and homes.
Due mainly to later immigrants to the country, Australians have a
growing interest in multicultural foods and drinks from across Asia,
The Middle East, Europe and Africa
Since the late 20th century there has also been a growing awareness of
cultural and religious food requirements, such as Halal and Kosher
practices.
Vegetarianism (the practice of eating only vegetable food) and veganism
(a strict vegetarian diet that excludes any animal product) have also
gained broader acceptance in Australian society, thanks in part to the
important role that vegetables and vegetable products such as tofu play
in Asian, Indian and other international cuisines.
Australian Native Food and Drink in The 21st Century
A cluster of macadamia nuts growing in Northern New South Wales
Image courtesy of Australian Macadamia Society
In the late 20th and early 21st century Australian native bush tucker
foods remained mainly a novelty. Game meats such as kangaroo, wallaby,
emu and crocodile are available as specialty items.
Australian seafood is highly prized domestically and is a lucrative
export industry.
The macadamia nut is the only highly-commercialised Australian native
food crop.
********
TC
.
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- Eating "Naturally"
- From: George Cherry
- Eating "Naturally"
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