Why Does Everything I Read Make Me Hungry?

I've been reading some interesting books from our library on the history of the Salish tribes, The Challenge To Survive series.  While the books as a whole wouldn't work for young children, some of the excerpts would be of interest.  For example, in book 2, Johnny Arlee relates the story of how horses were acquired by the tribe.  The humorous detail that I have come to expect from Johnny shines through.  What a master storyteller he is!

The books have interesting cultural tidbits relating to harvesting, hunting, and cooking throughout.  For me, I can really connect with these sections, I suppose because I love food so much!  Also the passages speak to the forager in me.  My husband and I love the wild bounty that living in Montana provides us.  He is the hunter in the fall and collector of morel mushrooms in the spring. Both of us spend considerable amounts of time in the summer picking wild berries.  Company is always so pleased when we have elk stroganoff with wild morels, accompanied by a garden salad with wild chokecherry vinaigrette dressing.  For dessert:  huckleberry pie!

We have never done anything with bitterroot or camas, however.  I'm a little afraid to!

From Encyclopedia Britannica:
"Elaine Nelson McIntosh, a dietitian and food historian, suspects death camas may have been to blame for the illnesses that plagued the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. Food was scarce and the group was suffering from malnutrition. The Nez Perce tribe offered the travelers fish and bulbs of a plant they believed were blue camas. At the time, the plant wasn’t in bloom, making it hard to differentiate between it and its evil cousin. Soon after, the group fell violently ill for weeks. They ate their dogs to sustain themselves for the rest of the expedition."