3 ms·

For most of agricultural history people didn't eat raw vegetables at all, and only some raw fruits. Before the advent of modern agriculture night dirt was a com

by ch4s3 4y ago

For most of agricultural history people didn't eat raw vegetables at all, and only some raw fruits. Before the advent of modern agriculture night dirt was a common fertilizer and a serious vector for disease. It's still unsafe to ear raw fruits and vegetables in parts of the world with bad sanitization. I know a few people who have gotten seriously ill consuming fresh pressed fruit juice in North Africa.

Baloo 4y ago
It's a nice anecdote, but I've lived and travelled in various African countries and never been sick from consuming fruit, vegetables or pressed juice. I'd be much more worried about eating poorly butchered and stored meat. The idea people throughout history didn't eat raw fruits and vegetables is also quite wrong. Again, after living in rural communities, they largely eat what they can get - which includes a lot of raw fruits and vegetables. Of course meat is important, but no more important than nuts, berries, tubers etc.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  Here's a 2017 study from Egypt about the frequency of parasite cysts on fresh produce[1]. Here's another about salmonella generally in North Africa[2]. Both irrigation and washing of produce use water that may not be safe to drink. This isn't some anecdotal issue I'm bringing up. [1] https://aeji.journals.ekb.eg/article_17804.html https://aeji.journals.ekb.eg/article_17804.html [2] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01569/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.0156...
- raverbashing 4y ago
  The only anecdote here is yours, because food-borne diseases are very common and a significant source of misery across the developing world (That is, if you don't have undetected Helminthiase or some other disease)
- outworlder 4y ago
  > It's a nice anecdote, but I've lived and travelled in various African countries and never been sick from consuming fruit, vegetables or pressed juice. That's all and good, but how do you even know that? One can live with parasites for quite a while before noticing any symptoms. I come from a 'third world' country. We really wash our fruits and specially our vegetables. Even though they might come from large farming operations, you can still have people without proper sanitization handling them after taking a dump. Heck, there are still places where you cannot enter a body of water without worms piercing your skin and having a party in your intestines. Our elementary school curriculum was pretty extensive on diseases and specially parasites. > The idea people throughout history didn't eat raw fruits and vegetables is also quite wrong. They did. People also died a lot. Although a berry growing somewhere in the wilderness will probably have less of a chance of carrying diseases or parasites that infect humans (on the account of not having encountered other humans). After farming? All bets are off.
  - scns 4y ago
    > Although a berry growing somewhere in the wilderness will probably have less of a chance of carrying diseases or parasites that infect humans (on the account of not having encountered other humans). Maybe less of a chance, still deadly. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis

by ch4s3 4y ago

Baloo 4y ago

It's a nice anecdote, but I've lived and travelled in various African countries and never been sick from consuming fruit, vegetables or pressed juice. I'd be much more worried about eating poorly butchered and stored meat. The idea people throughout history didn't eat raw fruits and vegetables is also quite wrong. Again, after living in rural communities, they largely eat what they can get - which includes a lot of raw fruits and vegetables. Of course meat is important, but no more important than nuts, berries, tubers etc.

ch4s3 4y ago
Here's a 2017 study from Egypt about the frequency of parasite cysts on fresh produce[1]. Here's another about salmonella generally in North Africa[2]. Both irrigation and washing of produce use water that may not be safe to drink. This isn't some anecdotal issue I'm bringing up. [1] https://aeji.journals.ekb.eg/article_17804.html https://aeji.journals.ekb.eg/article_17804.html [2] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01569/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.0156...
raverbashing 4y ago
The only anecdote here is yours, because food-borne diseases are very common and a significant source of misery across the developing world (That is, if you don't have undetected Helminthiase or some other disease)
outworlder 4y ago
> It's a nice anecdote, but I've lived and travelled in various African countries and never been sick from consuming fruit, vegetables or pressed juice. That's all and good, but how do you even know that? One can live with parasites for quite a while before noticing any symptoms. I come from a 'third world' country. We really wash our fruits and specially our vegetables. Even though they might come from large farming operations, you can still have people without proper sanitization handling them after taking a dump. Heck, there are still places where you cannot enter a body of water without worms piercing your skin and having a party in your intestines. Our elementary school curriculum was pretty extensive on diseases and specially parasites. > The idea people throughout history didn't eat raw fruits and vegetables is also quite wrong. They did. People also died a lot. Although a berry growing somewhere in the wilderness will probably have less of a chance of carrying diseases or parasites that infect humans (on the account of not having encountered other humans). After farming? All bets are off.
- scns 4y ago
  > Although a berry growing somewhere in the wilderness will probably have less of a chance of carrying diseases or parasites that infect humans (on the account of not having encountered other humans). Maybe less of a chance, still deadly. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis