seeking a qpr for the end of the world

@disasterpenguin

Nope! Not Irish. The potato just produces a lot of calories per square foot of soil for growing it. So it was a big hit. (Note that it’s not more nutritious than bread, it just takes less land and labour than bread.)

Other things from the Americas:

Cocoa and chocolate

Beans (except soybeans, fava beans, chickpeas, mung beans, lentils, and peas)

Squash (except inedible Eurasian gourds)

Avocados

Sweet potatoes

Vanilla

Tobacco

Pineapple

Cassava/manioc

And some American critters:

Chipmunks

Raccoons 🦝

Hummingbirds

Skunks

Turkeys

Guinea pigs

Llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, etc.

Turkeys

On the flip side, things that are not native to the Americas include:

Rice

Horses, donkeys, mules

Cattle (so also dairy), pigs, sheep, and domesticated goats

Chickens

Large dogs

Cats

Rats

Earthworms

Pigeons, house sparrows, starlings

Wheat

Onions and garlic

Citrus

Bananas

Honey

Sugar

Dwarf TV: How It's Mined followed by a 4½ hr documentary about salt

Gnome TV: those sensory videos for cats where bugs and mice and birds crawl around on the screen. they really like this

Orc TV: Mythbusters and Top Gear reruns

Halfling TV: the most incredible impassioned storytelling you've ever witnessed always neatly contained in 2 seasons max

frankly i think a LOT of "picky eaters" have some kind of sensory problems– autistic or allistic– and shame is never useful. i don't fucking care how annoying you think we are. if you've never lived through the humiliation of being the only one not eating at a dinner table, or having to choke down something disgusting you already know you hate because other people insist you don't know your own body, or getting a hunger migraine in a house full of food because none of its edible to you? you don't understand how awful it is to have food issues.

whenever i see people draw this distinction between being "just a picky eater" and "having a real problem" all i think is, who does this serve? most people don't even know ARFID exists. there are so many undiagnosed autistics, or just people with a variety of issues that aren't officially diagnosed. why do we need a medical label in order to be treated with respect and compassion? why did i need to be diagnosed as autistic for my family to realize the abuse they put me through for years because of my eating habits?

it's such an easy habit for neglected groups to fall into– the idea that a medical diagnosis can save us. that by appealing to the medical/psychiatric industry, we can be protected from abuse and given basic respect and resources. but the truth is that it should never have come to this in the first place. dignity doesn't come from an abled doctor telling you that there's a medical reason for your symptoms. it comes from being a person. once you accept that you need a Good Reason to have your needs respected, you doom yourself to neglecting and abusing those who have your same struggles because they aren't lucky enough to access medical recognition.