>
Sandy Wrote:
>>Now see here. Since when did the ancient Swedes eat only
>>indigenous plants? Not since the neolithic. Didn't they have
>>cabbages? Carrots? Turnips? They had some kind of grain, if only rye,
>>barley, and/or flax.
>We had grain growing naturally in Sweden, rye I know for sure. Vegetables
yes
>some kinds. But still they were indigenous. Swedes didn't import new crop
back
>then maybe a few exceptions but I can't think of any right now.
[...a lot of minor agreeing...]
>> Hell, I grew up in Utah, which is about as barren a state as
>>you can find with humans living in it. But, having taken a survival
>>course there, I can report that even without storing your food, you
>>can get enough variety in the various native plants to live for quite
>>a while.
>It is one thing to survive for quite awhile and live for your whole life.
>What you don't get from eating you must get from somewhere else. This
>somewhere else is your body. This works fine for a while but doesn't work in
>the long run. So while it is no problem to travel through Sweden it is
totally
>different thing to live there.
>> I repeats. If you can get fruit, a grain, a vegetable, and
>>cheese, you have all the vitamins, minerals, etc., you need.
>This is far to generalised. While you can find a combination of the above
>which is enough to live on, you could also find one that isn't. The
important
>thing is to get the right combination not necessarily to get a wide
selection.
>I can't see which combination of the above that exists in Sweden that has
all
>the necessary proteins,minerals etc.
>The path to dietary deficiency is by living in a culture that has a one
sided
>diet OR by abstaning from certain parts of a "full" diet and being unable to
>replace it.
Well, I've had about as much of this as I can stand. The only reason I haven't replied earlier is that I've been trying to catch up. Being a vegetarian, I can tell you that meat in any form is not necessary for a "full" diet. The protein (and not much else) that comes from meat also carries a lot of fat and cholesterol. And nasty types of fat and cholesterol at that. Sandy's statements about other sources of protein were correct, although food combining is currently believed not to be necessary. If you look at the food pyramid that I see on just about every box of cereal out there, meat is up on top, near the point. Grains are at the bottom. In other words, eat lots of grains and eat meat sparingly (or, in my opinion, not at all.) If you look at the human digestive system, you'll see that it's just not designed to process meat. Nor is our body designed to live in near-to-polar climates where vegetarianism is, granted, more difficult (but not impossible.) We have no natural fur or thick fatty tissue to keep us warm. Eskimos (most likely due to their high consumpion of meat) have the highest rate of colon cancer and heart disease of any culture on Earth. And China the lowest (while the Chinese and Japanese may not all be vegetarians, their consumption of meat is much lower. Actually, the rate of heart disease in Japan has risen dramatically in the past 50 years. Coincidentally, so has their meat consumption as they become more westernized.) I apologise in advance for getting a little preachy but this is a very important subject to me, both personally and professionally. If anyone would like to debate this further, send e-mail so as not to disrupt this list further.
As far as Prax is concerned, how do the bison survive? Chances are that they graze mostly along the Zola Fel and at the various oases. They need variety, too. If there's enough to support a nation of bison and rhinos, there's enough for a few CAs as well.
As far as wether or not CAs are vegetarians, that's up to the individual GM and how they interpret the cult. The writeup may say that they are but I'm sure no one plays exactly "by the book." I believe that most would be lacto-ovo vegetarians (consuming no animal flesh but allowing dairy and eggs. And fish, birds, and rabbits are all animals.) with, perhaps, a few vegans (no animal products at all.) This might be a matter of standing with lay folk not required to follow any dietary restrictions, initiates being lacto-ovo, and rune status being vegans.
Lastly, I put in my vote for Rune Lords being members of the Arroin sub-cult. I always liked that description in CoP.
Camo
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