How would you know what's safe to eat?

Perhaps if he saw animals eating berries etc he would risk trying them himself?

Do what people have always done before we had agriculture. Smell it, lick it, nibble it. Then wait for the runny tummy.

It would still be a risk, but he's going to have to try something. If it were me I'd start with things animals ate and avoid things they avoided. It would still be a nerve-wrecking first bite though.

He could start out thinking that maybe what the native mammalian-like creatures ate was safe, then quickly find out that human physiology is compatible only with one of them. Like, the first plant he tries he saw the green 6-legged monkeys eat, and it works out fine. Then he tries what the purple ungulates eat, it makes him sick, so it dawns on him to stick to green monkey food.

Just as an aside--on an alien planet, there's no reason to assume the meat would be safe for a human to eat.

1) When it's about another "planet," all bets are off. Anything can happen.

2) Make him come from a rural America family that farms and hunts? They survive much better in the wilderness than city kids.

3) Are there any ruminant animals (like deer?) on that planet? Your character can observe them. What they eat, he eats. Whether he can digest them effectively is another question.

While the green monkey theory might work, the sense of smell and taste do give accurate clues as to what is edible. Things that smell and taste good usually are edible. There are edible things that taste or smell bad, but they are exceptions.

I was thinking along the same lines as Marlys: go with the foods that are eaten by whatever on that planet seems most like a human. And don't assume all meats are okay just because other animals are eating them--same as on this planet. We have turkey vultures in these here parts, and even if I did eat meat, I wouldn't eat the rotten stuff they're capable of eating. Ick. (I know turkey vultures are God's creatures, too, but they creeeeep meeeee ooooooout.)

King Neptune said:

Things that smell and taste good usually are edible. There are edible things that taste or smell bad, but they are exceptions.

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I think that works fairly well on Earth, but on an alien planet the plants would have evolved to smell and taste good to the creatures there (the reason is that if critters eat them, the plants' seeds get scattered and more plants grow--so the ones that attract more animals to eat them have an advantage).

But the aliens' sense of taste and smell could be totally different from ours, and what has evolved to appeal to them could be disgusting to us. But still nutritious.

But you have start somewhere. And the character will find out fairly quickly what smells go with edible food.

The "taste and see" route is the way to go, taking it in tiny increments. The first step after smelling is to lick the food and spit out the saliva that touched it. Then lick the food and swallow the saliva. Then try a tiny little bite, etc. There should be a minimum period of 20-30 minutes between each test to check for adverse effects.

Additionally, because the testing process is so drawn out, he'll want to make sure he's testing items that are plentiful. It would suck to find something edible only to consume the entire supply in one sitting and still be hungry.

Finally, you stated that he could hunt because he could cook the meat, but who's to say the meat would be any safer than the plants? They could all be the alien equivelent of puffer-fish or something.

Marlys said:

I think that works fairly well on Earth, but on an alien planet the plants would have evolved to smell and taste good to the creatures there (the reason is that if critters eat them, the plants' seeds get scattered and more plants grow--so the ones that attract more animals to eat them have an advantage).

But the aliens' sense of taste and smell could be totally different from ours, and what has evolved to appeal to them could be disgusting to us. But still nutritious.

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Taste and smell are chemical senses. While it is partly about being attracted to plants that want people to spread seeds, those senses detect chemicals that are nutritious or not. Things that smell bad smell bad, because the chemicals are not healthy for humans.

King Neptune said:

Taste and smell are chemical senses. While it is partly about being attracted to plants that want people to spread seeds, those senses detect chemicals that are nutritious or not. Things that smell bad smell bad, because the chemicals are not healthy for humans.

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Except when it's not so. Antifreeze apparently smells and tastes quite sweet and yummy; durian smells disgusting.

On our planet, there is a strong correlation between the things that are wholesome to eat and the things that smell good, because evolution.

There are plenty of chemicals that exist or can exist that are not so abundant in naturally-occuring form on Earth for no particular reason except they just aren't, whose smell is entirely unrelated to how toxic they might be to a human body. The ones that smell awful probably are awful, but the ones that smell nice might not actually be your friend.

Adlemons said:

So I've got a character from 1940s America who, for various reasons, has ended up stranded on a different planet - not Earth.

There are only animals - nothing capable of communicating with him - and plant life.

How would he be able to decide what is ok to eat - short of trying everything? At the moment his diet seems to just be meat because he can cook that. But what about fruit/berries?

Oh, and he doesn't have survival rations (at least, not human ones) available.

Cheers!

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Why does he think the animals are safe to eat? Why not eat what they do?

I grew up on a farm. My friends and I tried everything. There's a plant that is not native to this region, but was introduced by immigrants in the mid-1800s called Scotchbroom. It has lovely bright gold/yellow flowers and green seed pods, depending on time of year -- both of which are deadly poisonous when eaten in large enough quantities, but are hallucinogenic when eaten in small amounts or smoked.

I vaguely recall reading about the testing process. I believe the first step was to rub the plant/fruit/seeds/whatever on your inner arm, where the skin is sensitive. If you break out, avoid that fruit.

After that, like others have mentioned, touching the food to the tongue, seeing if you go numb or tingle. Swishing saliva around your mouth with a tiny amount of the fruit, seeing how you react. Progressively trying more and more exposure, until you've eaten the food and haven't died.

There's probably a detailed description out there of how to do this. . . . Yup, here we go!

You also have to be careful with meat. Some can make you very sick if not cooked thoroughly or prepared the right way. We're talking parasites and other nasties, and fevers/vomiting/diarrhea, as well as things like blindness or hallucinations.

benbenberi said:

Except when it's not so. Antifreeze apparently smells and tastes quite sweet and yummy; durian smells disgusting. .

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That is true, but one goes with the odds. If something smells and tastes good, then the odds are good that it is good to eat.

On our planet, there is a strong correlation between the things that are wholesome to eat and the things that smell good, because evolution.

There are plenty of chemicals that exist or can exist that are not so abundant in naturally-occuring form on Earth for no particular reason except they just aren't, whose smell is entirely unrelated to how toxic they might be to a human body. The ones that smell awful probably are awful, but the ones that smell nice might not actually be your friend.

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Play the odds.

Or do what nomads did. Give it to Granny.

mirandashell said:

Or do what nomads did. Give it to Granny.

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That is a perfect solution.

Bing Z said:

1) When it's about another "planet," all bets are off. Anything can happen.

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This. Plants on another planet would have formed toxins against what ever wants to eat them. They'd have not likely have evolved chemical defenses against an alien invader any more than a human would have digestive enzymes to deal with alien food.

However, when 'invasive' species are introduced to new eco-systems on earth it seems most of the time they can feast on whatever tastes good for them.

King Neptune said:

That is a perfect solution.

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Speaking as a future old woman........ bugger off.

Orianna2000 said:

You also have to be careful with meat. Some can make you very sick if not cooked thoroughly or prepared the right way.

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You have to be very careful when eating something that's carnivorous or omnivorous -- especially with the organs. Those animals tend to concentrate toxins.

Yeah. Polar bear livers are notoriously toxic to humans.

I think every carnivore liver is dangerous as it stores vitamin A.