At the risk of stepping into controversy, I will allude to substances that are considered to be food. Aspartame is one,
GMO's are another. Yet curiously,
ants and other members of the animal kingdom do not find them edible. I remember being told as a child that if the birds and caterpillars
were not eating certain berries, they were not safe for me either. Raspberries, yes. Holly berries, no.
This is not to say that I have never indulged in nutritionally bankrupt desserts, but when I leave the melted remains of ice cream in a bowl in the sink, the ants have a late night party.
There are conversations that I have exploited as well that serve no one. Feed nobody. Gossip, judgmental comments, criticism can seem tantalizing. Irresistible in fact.
"Did you hear????"
"I would never have done that with my child."
"She just doesn't fit in."
Yet I notice that those tidbits have no appeal to babies, crones, insects, or mammals.