Awesome stories! My family was more the eat-at-restaurants type, no hunting or fishing, but I'm fascinated by foraging and keep showing them weeds I've found in the area which are edible. My favorite foods growing up were pizza, lobster, and escargot -- but I think the latter two were because they were served drenched in butter.

Not a fan of ants - wile they were quite spicy (I like hot food) they were rather bitter... strane combo.

We used to set out cricket (grasshopper) traps when I was young to use as fish bait... on a dare I fried some up, and found them rather quite darned good. These were our local NW California golden stripers - not too big, not too small, not gooey, not mealy - I've wondered why, since then, they're not well accepted, as they're quite good (No wonder the golden browns and rainbows leap at them!)

Lobster is, well, lobster. If it's right, it IS awesome, but it is more picky than black truffle... a friend of mine is from Maine, Lobster family, used to go back for a month for harvest every year... always wanted to go out on the boats with him, both because I found it fascinating and he was DD gorgeous..broke my heart when we were at an event, and I a 3rd party intro'd me to his wife (of like 20 years), so glad I didn't make a total fool of myself... she was also from the far NE, old family Lithuanian, and a truly awesome person. all in all, wonderful people, and I think of them often!

Did you find a place to buy crickets, or did you hunt them yourself? Or were they served at a restaurant?

I've had lobster, and my grandfather shared some chocolate-covered ants with me when I was a kid, but I've never tried crickets.

I broke into the bag of Fritos yesterday, and polished those little addictive so-and-so's off today... Damn Frito-Lay! --giggles--

Crickets, breaded, with lemon and deep fried, are quite yummy... kind of like a super-crispy wild calamari. And Scorpions and Lobster are not that distantly related... ;-)

If you want to try just a few flavored, dried crickets, check in the gift shop of a science center/museum near you. (Guess what my 6-year-old daughter picked for a souvenir.) They also had meal-worms. I think the choices were barbecue, or sour cream and onion. And then there were scorpion lollipops...

Sounds good.

And I believe there is veracity to the theory/observation that led DOES Accumulate in the body with repeated exposure...

But Wiggy's assertion that 'additives' in today's food do, too, .... well... link? Data? Experiments?

Some years back, I saw inflammatory ads about how "x number of pounds of undigested meat are putrefying in everyone's intestinal tract!"

Problems were: putrefaction tends to be aerobic and there ain't much "aer" in the digestive tract to support that claim.
Second 'problem': if you took current numbers for 'average meat consumption by Americans' PLUS the fact that "your digestive system is maybe 3-4 "days long" from start to finish, the combination immediately tells you that, yes, several pounds of meat products probably DO exist in your digestive tract... on average, for Everyone in the US.

Funny we don't have mass die-offs as a result, eh? So the ads' "solution" of doing Purges and Detoxifications to "cure the problem" struck me as pure marketing bullshit with the sole purpose of selling some kind of other BS to gullible customers.

I'm a serious skeptic, that way... :)

Good for you! AND............. ?

Many grammarians say that it's the "OF" that's the superfluous word there... Off The Soapbox, by itself, conveys the message well. I tend to agree, but that plus some amount of money can buy you a coffee, right?

I WAS waiting for someone to ask you if the original spelling of your 'handle' was l'amuse... a bit funnier that way, eh? :)

Now, to the original post and topic, I tend to bristle when ANY reference makes wonderfully specific cause-and-effect assertions.

Mice with genetic 'defects' may very well be useful because they're MORE specifically sensitive to certain influences. And some of the conclusions of the studies might actually be worth noting! I'd just like to see more vetting of the experimental process and more controlled experiments done before the "obvious conclusions" are drawn and the "obvious solutions" are implemented...

But, maybe that's just me... :)

Ya, I found that point. I gained about 60 lbs in the last 5 years from a combination of terrible fast food diet and desk jobs. I have been working to turn it around for a year now, and I am starting to see results. I love my grease ball burgers, but I have found I feel so much better when I only allow myself junk food one day a week. The rest of the week I really try to eat healthy and I now work out daily. I have seen an amazing turn around in my energy level and flexibility. I have also lost an inch or so around my waist. So I am doing my personal best to be better. Lots of hard work ahead this summer so I am sure its only a matter of time before I drop some of it, and then I am sure I'll really have to work off that last 10 or 20 lbs. It is what it is. I'll get there. I'm not gonna obsess over it.

Thanks so much!

Thank you, I guess I should have said "Off of the soapbox" haha!

Thank you! Need the points! Not French, actually a mixture of English/Irish. Think the original name was spelled different, but genealogy goes back as far as Muse's Mill, Kentucky. Before that not sure.

It can be difficult for a person to reject food that has been designed and processed to be addictive. The food manufacturers can sell what ever they want. It's a problem when they solicit the help of the FDA to tell us that the junk they're selling us is good for us. Try reading 'The Big Fat Surprise' by Nina Teicholz http://thebigfatsurprise.com/

I don't know. I never bothered to ask. Sorry. I'm all for every single SOVEREIGN nation (the elites HATE that word) to REJECT the diet that the FDA prescribes (did they run that by you?) to Americans.

What part of Spain were they staying and what was their diet like? Most of Western Europe and the Far East is now consuming the SAD (Standard American Diet) which is way too much carbs and not nearly enough saturated fat.

I agree with your comment on the mental probs. I have colleagues of mine who have come back from Spain who told me while they were living in there, they were full of energy the whole time. But several months after returning to the U.S., they complained about becoming lethargic, even after ingesting coffee to 'get going', it seemed the energy they had while living in Spain (a couple of years) had left.

I found that to be intriguing. That said: to my International Gulchers, have any of you experienced the same thing?

Good points LaMuse. (French?) I gave you a point.

There's a certain point beyond which you do not want to go. Like when it's too hard to get up and enjoy your life. But if you're functioning OK, WTH, enjoy your life. I used to travel once a year between Florida and San Diego. I can tell you every good hamburger joint (and rest stop) along US10. With the exception of In and Out Burger in Cal. most are family owned.

I definitely enjoy staying abreast of the latest findings in health and nutrition. I believe that most of our mental problems and also the ruin of our civilization is due to poor diet. Check out 'Grain Brain' by David Perlmutter and 'Keto Clarity' by Jimmy Moore.

hope is not in my vocabulary except as a name.

read return to the primitive by ayn rand.

Wiggys I think primitive would be a compliment to some of these kids. They just want to sit around all day, sleep, and jack around on their iPhone. They have no ambition and very minimal abilities.

Off OF soapbox?? Why the "of"? Why not
'the'? Couldn't resist = great article!