It's not that Eskimos are adapted to an all meat diet to avoid scurvy.
No human is adapted against scurvy since no primates can produce their
own vitamin C. However, raw meat does contain small amounts of vitamin
C since it is a hormone for most animals. Cooking destroys it though.
So eskimos survived by eating lots of raw meat, suplemented by berries
and greens. Berries were preserved in oil for the winter, greens were
available in summer. You don't really need that much Vitamin C to
avoid the worst of scurvy, a little bit will do, although much more is
needed for optimum health.
*Anyway*, I do want to comment about one little thing. Consumption of
meat in the first world does NOT take food away from the third world.
The United States could double or triple our food production, farmers
are going bankrupt because prices are very very low. The trouble is,
who's going to buy our cheap food? No one, there is no market for more
food. Increase the population and we could feed them easily. The real
trouble with increased population is habitat destruction, not famine.
And anyway, human population is leveling off. Depending on how quickly
they are allowed to develop, third world countries should have first
world growth rates within a generation or two or three. First world
growth rates are essentially zero, and are negative in some cases. If
you asked me to guess, I would predict falling world population within
a hundred years. Of course, theres no way to predict culture and
attitudes that far in advance. Perhaps everyone will convert to
Mormonism by then.
So, worry about humane and hygenic food production, but don't worry
about lack of food. I know you can't help worrying Kristin, I just
hope we can get you worrying productively! Yes, let's harness all that
worry and perhaps we can do something really great with it. Who's got
a suggestion for some problem that would benefit from a full time worrier?
=====
Darryl
Think Galactically -- Act Terrestrially
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