WILD FOOD HIKE: Your next snack might be right under 
your feet ... details ahead on Passport to Texas.

This is Passport to Texas

Before we had grocery stores, we had nature.

:07 -- Whenever the edible wild plants were domesticated, tamed 
and cultivated, that's when human culture could grow. 

Human culture evolved, says Joe Roach, because people 
no longer spent their days searching for food in the wild. 
Roach, a park interpreter, occasionally takes visitors on 
wild food hikes in Tyler State Park.

:21 -- The program is to have park visitors recognize and gain 
and appreciation of how edible wild plant support our human 
culture. We do that by taking a very moderate one half mile 
hike. We point out the various the various things that the Caddo 
Indians used [and others] when they were here. And we 
investigate how the human culture rose on the foundation of 
edible wild plants.

Roach warns never to eat any wild plant unless you are 
100% certain it is safe, as some edible wild plants are 
similar in appearance to poisonous wild plants. One 
ubiquitous edible plant is the juniper tree, more 
commonly referred to as cedar.

:11 -- You can make a tea out of them, or chew on the leaves. 
Some people have reported that it helps control various gum 
diseases. In survival training some people say you can chew on 
the juniper to freshen the breath.

And juniper berries are a classic seasoning for wild game 
dishes. There's a Wild Food Hike at Tyler SP March 20; it's 
accessible for the mobility impaired. Find details on the 
TPW website.

That's our show ... with support from the Sport Fish 
Restoration Program ... For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm 
Cecilia Nasti. 



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Maximum Script time:		 0:46.0 Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25