this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026
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Aren't raw potatoes supposed to make you sick?
They're fine for cows, but they should be crushed first to prevent choking and help digestion. Also it's not good for their diet to be all potatoes. They get a lot of nutrients out of them though, even raw; their stomachs do the work that cooking them would in breaking down the starches and proteins, they even get additional nutrients from their digestive bacteria, that's why bulls can get buff eating veggies.
Or you could, you know, cook them?
Humans, yes, but in the photo they're being eaten by a cow
Raw potatoes making humans sick wouldn't necessarily mean they make cows sick. E.g., plenty of animals can eat raw meat but as humans we need to cook it to be safe.
I wonder at what point in our evolutionary history we lost that trait. Did we ever have it? Could our ancestors eat raw meat? Could modern monkeys?
We can eat raw meat just fine, it's just that we're now rather fond of avoiding the parasites and bacteria raw meat can harbor, hence why we cook it (and it tastes better)
Raw meat is still eaten in some places, too. Raw pork is still eaten in Germany, Sushi is raw fish, and there are amazingly some raw chicken recipes. I personally know an older family friend who told me he used to eat raw ground beef that he sprinkled salt on, it wasn't too uncommon in rural areas.
Other animals can have stronger stomach acid to deal with the bacteria or viruses, but even with that, most predators end up with parasites, which is partly why humans rarely eat them.
I thought that was something only my grandmother did. Glad to see she wasn't completely mad, and it was in fact a thing that other people did. She also used to eat sugar cube sandwiches so she's not totally off the hook yet.
My mom told me she and her siblings ate sugar sandwiches too, though I think they used granulated sugar and maybe some butter.
Did your grandma ever mention dipping slices of bread in a bowl of milk? That's something else my old family friend did.
I ate stale bread torn up into pieces and covered in milk at my grandmother's house when I was a child. Usually with a teaspoon of sugar on top. It was a way to use up the stale bread, and honestly I liked it.
They can if they're green or spoiled.