Wild Foods Books

A review of this book has been published in the following journal:

Houle, A. (1999). Book-Review: Foraging for survival: Yearling baboons in Africa. Behavioural Processes. (in press)

This is a story of how eleven juvenile baboons feed themselves. The setting: Amboseli National Park, Kenya. This is, however, much more than a simple story. Throughout, Altmann engages the reader with his elegant analysis - rich with ecological detail - of the costs and benefits primates must negotiate in their daily pursuit of requisite nutrients and energy. Baboons are exemplary eclectic omnivores; still, as Altmann quotes, "there is no such thing as a free lunch." Bearing this in mind, he sets out to evaluate the balancing act baboons must achieve in maximizing nutrient intake, while at the same time minimizing toxic accumulation of plant secondary metabolites.

At the outset, Altmann describes what the baboons ate, how they ate it, and what foods they avoided altogether during the study period (1975-1976). He then identifies what baboons should eat. A foraging strategy is an ultimate endpoint, achieved via an array of potential tactical routes. Altmann evaluates both the feeding tactics and the eclectic foraging strategy of his young baboons by identifying the degree to which they deviate from an optimum model of adaptive feeding traits. The baboons' actual dietary intake is compared to the specifications of adequate and optimal diets; this is done for both an average yearling's diet, as well as on individual variance from the predicted diets.

Deviations from the optimum are viewed as indicators of potential differences in reproductive fitness. Although the feeding data stem from research undertaken in the mid-1970s, Altmann takes advantage of the two succeeding decades to relate differences in juvenile diets to longevity and fitness outcomes later in life. This historical depth is particularly valuable because it tests the model by evaluating whether those baboons that come closer to the optimum as juveniles have higher fitness as adults.

Altmann expands on the extreme selectivity exhibited by baboons, providing details on the toxic load, protein, carbohydrate, water content, and load of various plant species and the manner in which baboons maximize (or minimize) their intake of these food components. Finally, he assesses the anatomical and behavioral attributes that may contribute to making baboons one of the most successful and broadly distributed primate species. To complement the main body of the text, Altmann includes a series of appendices and tables in which he evaluates various methodological and definitional issues relating to calculating feeding bouts and dietary intake. Here, he presents additional detail on diet composition and the nutritional and toxic attributes of plant foods.

The work's emphasis on juvenile feeding behavior is an unusual yet valuable feature. This developmental stage is often overlooked in studies of non-human primate behavior and ecology, despite the fact that this period, and the transition from a milk diet to an adult diet, are undoubtedly critical to our understanding of adult fitness and life history patterns.

However, some caution is warranted: This book was not intended for the casual student of animal feeding behavior, nor for those new to optimal foraging theory. Altmann's models, food intake calculations, and feeding bout formulae are exacting, and quite abstracted from the experience of observing feeding behavior. Before embarking into this volume, non-modelers will have to review the technical terminology that necessarily accompanies Optimization Theory. In addition, I do not view the generalizations (outlined in Chapter Two) based on the relationships among body size, patch size, and dietary selectivity to be particularly illuminating. Too many exceptions to his proposed relationships can be found for such generalizations to be of much explanatory utility.

Nonetheless, this book is destined to become a classic in primate feeding behavior. It is exhaustive in its breadth, a pleasure to read, and sets the standard for amalgamation of modeling theory and ecological observation.

This is a grand book for nature-lovers, gourmet cooks, and wild plant enthusiasts. It's written with clarity and a touch of humor. Where else could you find recipes for Oaxaca Iceplant Salsa, Stir-fried Saltbush, and Canaigre Sauce? With excellent illustrations and photographs of each plant, this book is a joy to read.

Not only is this a great guide to edible plants, but it has some of the most tasty and unique recipes I have ever seen.

Books like this are only good if the author has lived the skills. Linda has. It is outstanding.

A lifestyle guide, that introduces the living land and edible wild plants. Identification, part-time experimentation, and recipies galore. Linda is the true natural "weed eater" extraordinaire. Her pure living example, teaches us how to enjoy life and the abundance here on earth.

Gain beginning knowledge of wilderness skills that are accessible as your own yard. Taste for yourself the beauty of the real natural foods of life. Value living more fully and gain an appreciation of being a student and a teacher, of others, and share in a new free lifestyle.

Come experiment,research,renew, adapt, taste and understand. Grasp what a lady and her child, who was raised in the woods for many years, experienced and learned. And find the tools to appreciate this family of foragers and their many illustrations of survival with real foods and real life. My own family has embraced the truths within this book and we give great thanks to one of God's sweet spirit's, here on the earth, that shared the unselfish knoweldge and opportunity with us!

I had purchased this book as a gift for Christmas for a friend. She received it, and told me she loved the receipes and could not wait to try them. She was very pleased with the book, and said it was a great gift!

This new edition of NATIVE HARVESTS is the most robust treatment with an especially beautiful new cover! More photographs and drawings adorn this fine Dover edition. What a great classic! This book has educated a whole generation fo wilf foods foragers, and folks intrigued with Native American fare. This new edition holds more "gifts" of native quotes, spirituality, stories, and suggested menus. I am so grateful for this excellent new book, which takes its place among each of the previous versions in my collections. Each is well-used, well-read, and abundantly travelled!

Published by the U. of South Carolina Press, these 300 recipies are collected from South Carolina Wildlife Magazine. They represent the tried and true results from long experimentation with Native American, European, African, and Caribbean cooking of foods taken straight out of their natural surroundings.

You can eat at expensive 5 star restaurants, but you won't find more delicious meals than what you can make yourself using these recipies.

The compliers tell you up front that this book is "for people not too uptight to try a 'dash' of this and a 'dollop' of that, but particular enough to know that sometimes only one brand name is the right one."

Both freshwater and saltwater foods are extensively covered as are pretty much any sort of bird, small game, and, of course, deer.

The shellfish section is especially good, with 15 pages on shrimp alone.

Even vegetarians will find this book a gold mine. The 20 page section on wild plants includes treats like crabapple jelly, huckleberry pie, and wild muscadine juice, and some unusual vegetable treats like squashpuppies or cattail pancakes that can be washed down with sassafrass tea.

Marinades and Sauces get almost 20 pages to themselves, and though not singled out for a separate section, jambalaya and etouffe dishes are here too.

The great world beyond the Southeast has never grasped how well we eat down here, but if you just read this book--much less actually savor the fare--you'll find yourself turning a jaundiced eye towards the uniform, homogenized cuisine of modern life.

Southeastern Wildlife Cookbook is the best wild game cookbook I have ever read. I come from an outdoors family and this book has some of the best recipes and tips I have ever used. The recipes are very simple and easy to follow. I used to struggle when having to cook wild game, not any more. From deer to fish to wild turkey recipes this book has it all and then some. This cookbook is a GREAT gift idea to anyone who loves to hunt or fish.

This tasty book covers wild mushrooms from Apps to Entrees. Cynthia's passion for local ingredients and fun recipes comes through in every word. If your a mushroom lover this book is a "must add" to your cookbook collection.

I love this little cookbook- and not only for the wild mushroom recipes, but also for Cynthia Nims care and delicacy in food handling and preparation. I seldom find recipe books that take 'delicacy' into consideration-- she notes the ways that the mushrooms interlace with other ingredients, like the way that brie slices are infused with the taste of the truffle slices. I particularly love the Buckwheat Crepes with Wild Mushrooms, Ham and Gruyere.

The whole book is beautiful- it may sound odd, but the paper quality is excellent. The cover has that high quality paperback flap that fold over, making the cover thicker and more durable than regular soft cover books. The illustrations are beautiful.

There is great information on finding societies that take you on wild mushroom hunts, buying wild mushrooms, and care and handling of wild mushrooms.

This book is both a guide to common North American wild edible plants, as well as a recipe book with ideas for what to do once you find the plants. It contains the following sections: shoots and leaves, roots, nuts and seeds, fruits, fruits, beverages, tobacco and sugar substitutes, wild seasonings, and poisonous plants. Within each section, there are articles about selected individual plants. The articles begin with a general description of the plant, including a pen-and-ink drawing. The description is followed by 6 or 8 recipes using the plant. Some of the recipes are designed for camp cooking in the bush, while others are basically old standard recipes that have been modified through the addition or substitution of the edible plant at hand. Although some of the recipes are vegetarian, this is neither a health-food nor cook-from-scratch kind of book, with its recipes calling for canned soups for flavor or potato chips for crunchiness. Nevertheless, the book does include excellent instructions about how to prepare wild edibles, many following traditional Native American methods. If you've heard that a plant is edible, but you're not sure how or which parts to eat, this book can help you figure out where to begin.

I just got this book recently and I have not been able to put the book down. Her life stories and Ideas are inspiring and lets you know you can do it if you have to! I Love this book, and her survival acres book.
Gabby

What makes this book rare and most useful is the listings are by the four seasons as well as habitat or areas grown or found in, so you know when to actually look for a specific plant. There is a small symbol next to each plant to show you how the plant can be utilized, like foraging for food, medicinal etc. I also like that the book covers look alike, since this may well save your life. The graphics used etc are superb. And the recipes are useful. This is one of those books any self sufficient rural or mountain person will own and use.

Nancy Turner's coverage of food plants in her area is amazing. In this new edition, the photos are splendid and really aid in identifying the plants. She has found out about the plants from the people who have used them extensively. One of my favorite wild edible plant books!