Every region, every culture, had it's own idea of what 'food' is. What may be a delicacy in one part of the work is unthinkable to eat in another. Insects, eyeballs, various organs and such are all eaten in the world. It's all a matter of what is readily available in the area. Many Western cultures see such things as taboo to eat, simply because they are not as visually appealing as other dishes.
On a different note: Have you ever thought about how much of what you eat(regardless of culture) was ever considered to be food? Who was the first person to try eating something, and see if they lived? Or who first thought of how to prepare something for the first time, such as putting food in a vinegar/brine solution? Who first went "Huh, well I got this wine that went bad...some salt and other spices...wonder what will happen if I mix it all together and put this meat/vegetable in it and leave it there for a while..." I find such things interesting. It might be because I've devoted nearly a third of my life to food. Cooking it, eating it, learning about it.... Now I want to know what all of -you- think.
Food is just what we each cathegorize personally as something one would eat, and the definition of food is imo rather cultural. But if your going to ask, what is edible, then I'd say, pretty much anything we can digest.
No, I don't think color has much to do with it. Meat is pretty dull in comparison to, say, a poisonous frog in a rainforest.
Colours do have, or had, a role; a red fruit for example is clearly more detectable in the rainforest than a green one. But flashy colours in general indicate poison, like in the example you stated. So it's a bit of both..
yes color had a role, but probably smell had something to do as well. if you smelled something delicious like cooked meat, and then smelled ****, which smells more appetizing?
Smell indeed tells us a lot about what things are edible and what is not. Taste does a lot in this direction too. And experience, like when you eat something that gives you tummy aches, you know it's not god for you.
Of course, but there are times when you know it's because of what you ate.
Yeah I've experienced some of those. And yeah smell is good. If you are eating something and smell something else you can make the food you are eating taste like what you are smelling. It's pretty cool. As long as what you are smelling is something good.
