This is a version of the old “stranded on a desert island” game. I’m pretty sure it was my friends Tilke Elkins and Kyla Wetherell who invented it. It was a popular conversation for a while back at Suntop.
If you could eat only five species for the rest of your life, which would they be? You get spices, salt and water for free. You get the species that you choose in unlimited quantities, fresh, good quality–perfectly ripe, if applicable. You also get everything that species makes. If you choose cow, for example, you get the dairy products that come from cows, their meat, and whatever else from them you might want to eat. (Brains? Some folks eat cow brains, right?)
Here’s the list I made back when we first played it. I’m considering revisions, but I still think it’s a good list. What’s your list?
oats
salmon
porphyra (the kind of seawead nori is made out of)
cherries
blueberries
Nathen's Miraculous Escape 
March 28, 2010 at 10:15 pm
My five are goat, quinoa, mangoes, spinach, and Cucurbita pepo.
That fifth species includes zucchini and summer squash, my favorite storage squash (acorn, delicata, and spaghetti), and some pumpkins.
Choosing goat gives me milk cheese, yogurt, butter, and ice cream, as well as my favorite meat.
Quinoa works as a rice replacement, for both a dinner grain and a breakfast porridge. I could also make a pie crust with a slightly nutty flavor. Unlike most grains, it has a complete protein profile.
(If I get bored of cooked quinoa as a dinner base, I can switch for a few days to stuffed zucchini, spaghetti squash “noodles”, or spinach salad as alternate bases.)
Mangoes are very healthy. I get fruit in my porridge or on my salad, and my favorite flavor of ice cream.
Spinach is healthy. It is my favorite among the greens, especially as a salad with some goat milk feta.
I admit I’m too lazy to check if my five cover all the vitamins we need to survive, but I’d be surprised if they do not.
[I’ll let my wife leave her own reply. But she does say that porphyra is a genus, not a species.]
March 30, 2010 at 8:56 pm
I’ve blogged about this here.
April 1, 2010 at 2:44 pm
My 5 species are similar to David’s.
Quinoa
Brassica oleracea- kale, collard greens, Chinese broccoli, cauliflower, Romanesco broccoli, broccoflower cabbage, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi and broccoli
sheep-for milk, cream, butter and cheese
peaches (peaches and nectarines)
Cucurbita pepo