# I could be a hunter/gatherer



## Eddy Edson (May 26, 2021)

Despite being a 60 yr old male with peripheral artery disease and a completely blocked left femoral artery, this year my walking daily average of 10.2km is just 1km/day less than the average 60 yr old Hadza male.

Have to say I feel pretty damn good about that  

If I could get some pointers on honey gathering, maybe I could join them.


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## trophywench (May 27, 2021)

Oh - we can eat berries, nuts and stuff OK of course but think if you want to attract younger fitter mates to ensure successful continuation of your line and also keep the tribe well fed and stop em marauding at will - you might do better attracting a following generally by also chucking spears at whatever mammals happen to roam the antipodes when such opportunities happen to present themselves?  Or have you not yet evolved to be omnivorous?


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## pm133 (May 27, 2021)

Personally, I'd hate to be a hunter-gatherer.
Very happy to pay others to collect my berries, nuts and steaks for me. 

As for walking 11km per day? Oooof not for me. I'd be bored out of my skull doing this every day. If it wasn't for my dog, I suspect I'd never leave the house. My fireplace chair is just too comfy.


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## Eddy Edson (May 27, 2021)

trophywench said:


> Oh - we can eat berries, nuts and stuff OK of course but think if you want to attract younger fitter mates to ensure successful continuation of your line and also keep the tribe well fed and stop em marauding at will - you might do better attracting a following generally by also chucking spears at whatever mammals happen to roam the antipodes when such opportunities happen to present themselves?  Or have you not yet evolved to be omnivorous?


Hadza get about 60% of their energy from carbs, mainly honey and tubers.

There's a honey bird which has co-evolved or whatever with them: it finds the bee hive, finds some Hadza and leads them to it; they knock it down and clear out the bees; they get the honey, the bird gets the larvae.  Cool! 

So I need to learn to identify these honey birds and recognise their tweeting. Also find out what exactly a "tuber" is.

Hadza also eat some meat. Herman Pontzer in his excellent new https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/603894/burn-by-herman-pontzer-phd/ has a great story about breakfast amongst the Hadza. He and another researcher were in camp with a group of them. One morning they woke up and found everybody gone. A little later the Hadza returned, carrying a dead antelope. They had heard some lions making a kill in the night, and they took the opportunity to steal their kill for breakfast.  

I'll leave that kind of thing to the younger guys.


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## trophywench (May 27, 2021)

LOL -  the tuber most folk know about (if not the only one) is The Potato.  Also types of yam, Jerusalem artichoke etc.  We were always told not to eat raw spud when we were little but can't remember now why but hardly a prob really as I did try a bit one day, and never tempted to again.  Crunchy watery tasteless thing.  May have been a popular health myth or just mothers' dislike of peeling spuds .......


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## travellor (May 27, 2021)

trophywench said:


> LOL -  the tuber most folk know about (if not the only one) is The Potato.  Also types of yam, Jerusalem artichoke etc.  We were always told not to eat raw spud when we were little but can't remember now why but hardly a prob really as I did try a bit one day, and never tempted to again.  Crunchy watery tasteless thing.  May have been a popular health myth or just mothers' dislike of peeling spuds .......


They need cooking to break break the raw starch into a more digestible form.


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## Eddy Edson (May 28, 2021)

trophywench said:


> LOL -  the tuber most folk know about (if not the only one) is The Potato.  Also types of yam, Jerusalem artichoke etc.  We were always told not to eat raw spud when we were little but can't remember now why but hardly a prob really as I did try a bit one day, and never tempted to again.  Crunchy watery tasteless thing.  May have been a popular health myth or just mothers' dislike of peeling spuds .......


So ... not this:


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## trophywench (May 28, 2021)

Doubt they'd find many of that sort growing wild in the Serengeti, meself .......


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## almarooney (May 28, 2021)

trophywench said:


> Doubt they'd find many of that sort growing wild in the Serengeti, meself .......


Different tubers there Sedge


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 4, 2021)

trophywench said:


> We were always told not to eat raw spud when we were little but can't remember now why but hardly a prob really as I did try a bit one day, and never tempted to again.



Potato is in the same family as deadly nightshade. Might be that?


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## nonethewiser (Jun 5, 2021)

Raw spuds, when boys we'd build fire & cook them in ashes, often would come out burnt & covered in ash but we didn't care, quick rub then get tucked in, always tasted good & did no harm.


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## Ljc (Jun 5, 2021)

Reading about being told not to eat raw potatoes reminded me of this.
When I as little.  a regular sight in my old street in Walworth was one particular baby in its pram, either being pushed by mum , gran or outside the street door playing with or gumming the longest strip of potatoe peeling I ever did see, his mum must have been a champion potato peeler and that baby grew up just fine.


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