Hunter-gatherer societies historically used plant parts primarily as medicine rather than as a regular food source, reserving animal meat, organs, seasonal fruit, and honey for consumption.

“When I was in Tanzania the Hanza at Lake Yas In Tanzania, they don't eat leaves unless they're sick. They use it as a medicine for like a diarrhea or something. They don't eat salads. They use roots of plants to make poisonous arrows for their bows. They they use plants as medicine, not as food. And we've seen this even in Native American cultures. So, they're using vegetable parts of plants as medicine, not necessarily food. They're saving the animal meat, the organs, and generally the seasonal fruit and the honey for food. That's their preference.”