Now I'm actually just really curious to try it and see what it tastes like!!! Is it like a status thing, like eating really hot chilis to prove how hard you are? Like Chuck Norris is so hard he eats poke weed? Or maybe it's a really delicious delicacy (bearing in mind most 'delicacies' are often thought of as kind of disgusting upon first encounter - jellied moose nose anyone?). Maybe there's some sort of cultural identity being maintained through the practice? why don't you ask your neighbours why and then you can report back. Steem on!
BTW, I am tagging you in the foragingscavengerhunt1 steemitgame being run by @haphazard-hstead of the @foraging-trail (#FSH1-1).
I grew up eating this , every spring . I have always liked it . It does not have a distinct taste . Like mustard or collard greens , it's just a ' green ' . As kids , we always made ' ink ' out of the berries . Parents and teachers always liked how the ink lasted so long on our skin . ( sarcasm ) It's a Southern thing I guess .
Thank you Sue. Does it give you fond memories of childhood to eat it now?
Chuck Norris is so hardcore that when he picks pokeweed, the plant gets sick.
I'm assuming it dates back to the depression. It's just been passed down. There are a lot of family landowners around here who's ancestors settled this area over 100 years ago. So when you couldn't buy food, you had to do what you needed to and survive.
Waow - so cool that they're continuing those traditions. A lot of places people don't like to be seen eating "famine foods" as they aspire to be seen as the well-off types that buy food.
btw, Chuck Norris can pick oranges from an apple tree and make the best lemonade youve ever tasted.