My all time favorite answer for this question is from a book I read in Brazil. It was a jungle-survival guide from a Brazilian military:<p>First of all, find a monkey. Follow the monkey, and eat everything the monkey eats. If possible, eat the monkey too.
The simple rule I was taught that if you can find anything that moves, cook and eat it before eating unknown plants. Your odds are generally much better with animals than plants -- you can probably find dozens of examples of inedible or poisonous plants on your back yard alone, while poisonous (as opposed to venomous) animals whose poison is still dangerous after being cooked are quite rare.<p>An even simpler rule is to start with anthills -- ants live almost everywhere, and while many ant species use poison as a weapon, none are poisonous after cooking.
I love how this guy clearly has no idea what he's talking about, relies primarily on a single source (US Army Survival Manual) that's based on decades of research and experience in these kinds of life-and-death situations, then proceeds to disagree with the source on multiple points. So much for fighting ignorance...
There's a show on the Discovery Channel about people who get lost in the wilderness. One thing I've noticed is that they spend all their energy and time trying to get back to civilisation, so they very rapidly get worn down.<p>I think a good strategy when you are lost in the wild is to immediately start keeping an eye out for shelter, food, and water. The article gives some good tips, but they take time if you want to be reasonably sure of what you are going to eat.
One thing not mentioned is what you're looking to avoid when you're conducting the UET.<p>When testing skin contact beware of:<p>* Rash<p>* Hypersensitivity (to touch or light)<p>When testing by contact with the lips and chewing beware of:<p>* Numbness or pain<p>* Spicy flavour, heat or burning sensation<p>* Any hint of a taste of almonds (as mentioned: Cyanide. Not a good idea)<p>This is by no means complete, the 'SAS Survival Guide' has some good info on this topic, though other parts of that book should be taken with a grain of salt...
Okay, someone a bit more intelligent than me should correct me on this:<p>Are most poisonous plants not bitter or foul tasting? Also, apart from mushrooms, don't they usually signal their poison?<p>Why does a plant develop poison if not to discourage animals from eating it : and if it does not signal through taste or look, how would an animal know?<p>I know nothing about this topic, I'm actually curious.
Even with a survival manual it's easy enough to get one harmless food source mixed up with another look-alike harmful one.<p>It's widely speculated that this happened to Chris McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp, who hiked into the Alaskan wilderness back in the 90s to get away from it all but ended up dying from either starvation or eating something poisonous which contributed to his starvation..<p>I guess the point is get ready to kill some small animals and go fishing. The idea that a couple of "Castor bean seeds" could be fatal is enough for me to consider all plant life poisonous unless I'm 99% positive it's a lemon or an apple or something like that, something well known...
Reminds me of a theory I came up with awhile ago. Why do little humans have such a strong propensity for sticking everything in their mouths? Well, way back when in the stone age, infant mortality was high. Mortality among the newborn is high for many species. As a result, low tech-level human communities don't invest in a little individual until they make it in the world for awhile. In fact, the little buggers haven't really had <i>that</i> many physical resources devoted to them. It takes a lot of food to make a baby. But that's peanuts to the resources invested in an adult over 2 decades of life. So who should be the food taster? Who should try things out to see if they're safe to eat? That's right, all those little ones!<p>It actually makes evolutionary sense for little humans to want to stick random things in their mouths and so become unwitting food tasters. It's better for the community, overall.<p>(Also, it puts pressure on mothers to be <i>attentive</i>! Another benefit to the community.)<p>Lots of female friends of mine <i>absolutely hate</i> this theory. I can understand why. But nature isn't always so nice.<p>(And yes, this theory is actually testable!)
<i>Boil it, if you've got the means. The army disparages this practice, saying boiling doesn't destroy all toxins. Maybe not, but it'll destroy some toxins, and at the same time get rid of the tannins that render foods like acorns unpalatable.</i><p>Boiling doesn't get rid of tannins. Native Americans poured boiling water over ground acorns to leach out <i>some</i> of the tannins.
Water is more important than food. A person can go a long time without food, but will die without water in just a few days time.<p>I would observe what the local animals seem to be eating.<p>Another trick is to take a sample and rub a bit of it on of your skin. If it causes irritation, its probably bad.
I got myself a copy of the SAS survival handbook sometime last year. It covers this topic and many others: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Revised-Situation/dp/0061733199/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264167645&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Revised-Situatio...</a>
I would collect everything an animal might want to eat, place
them in distinct piles and watch what comes around and what is eaten. You can then form a strategy based on the animals sited or just eat what they do, working up from very small
portions.
Not about survival as such, but the "Plants for a Future" project catalogues 7000 "rare and unusual plants, particularly those which have edible, medicinal or other uses."<p><a href="http://www.pfaf.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pfaf.org/</a>
One tip I learned for berries was that if the birds don't eat them, you shouldn't either because they're almost certainly poisonous. The reverse is not true: birds can eat things you can't.
<i>How do I know what I should eat and what I should feed to my mother-in-law?</i><p>I haven't seen this point addressed, neither in the article nor in this discussion. But does it sound to anyone else like he is implying that he wants to live but would like to poison his mother-in-law? (I know it's cliche, but the phrasing sounded odd to me. Maybe it was intended humorously.)
If you must eat plants and can't watch the animals then:<p>Spread a bit on your skin, wait a while to see if there's a rash. Touch some to your lips and tongue, again waiting a while to see if there's a reaction. Eat a tiny bit, wait a while. Eat a larger bit and then wait. Continue upping the dose.<p>This is from memory from the SAS survival guide. Should take days and isn't very safe but may be the best you've got.