If it's Pica, I'll eat my hat.

I don't remember the dirt being salty, but it had a certain gritty texture, not too gritty like when you get sand in your peanut butter sandwich at the beach, but a smooth sort of gritty texture. I remember that distinctly.

Good topic and something I hadn't thought about for years! My mom used to say she probably had the cleanest house in town because I loved to eat those dust bunnies. From under any piece of furniture and for some reason in particular I really liked the dust that collected in the windowsills. I have no recollection of this at all!

I did like the old fashioned paste in school, too. Not large amounts, but just wee tastes now and then. I think I remember something about the smell that wanted me to venture a taste.

Just as a funny side note, I have eaten many, many a dog biscuit and some I have found to be very tasty indeed. Not all dog biscuits are the same, you know. Prior to my "early retirement/disability" I was a buyer in the retail pet industry and used to receive tons of samples of every pet product you can imagine. One of my favorite manufacturers of high end dog products sent me a sample box of their newest biscuit before release just to see how I like it and what my opinion was. All Natural Veggie Madness was delicious! My staff and I finished off the entire box in less than a week. I know....I'm weird, but ya'll probably knew that before now!

Woof!

Lady J - maybe I will have to try a different variety. Some of those dog biscuits look mighty tasty they now have at the pet stores.

Funny thing - I caught my toddler eating the cat food. She seemed to like it. It also seemed to bother my husband more than me. I just said - I doubt there is anything in it that would hurt her. I was more concerned that the cats might get mad she ate out of their dish.

Wow, fascinating stuff!

When I as a kid, being a complete and utter emotional wreck, I used to eat the cigarette ashes out of my father's ashtrays. Mom, as always, said I was crazy. I remember them being quite salty.

I was also anemic as a teenager, to the point I had to take some sort of prescription supplements (can't remember what, exactly).

I actually like Tofu, but I always flavor it with something as it has almost no taste by itself. Have some in the fridge right now.

Gee, never tried dog biscuits. But you're right, some are so high-quality they might actually be tasty!

i was caught eating dirt or paint off the walls when i was around 4. i was never abused, had a perfect childhood, good nutrition. i was a very curious one. would play with earthworms, puddles, anything and everything. somehow it stopped, i think after my father expressed horror at catching me pick up something from a rug and eating it right away. i remember it was in preschool when he came to pick me up. it was a big moment of enlightenment for me. dirt from the floor - not socially acceptable. got it.

Yesterday - after buckling in my two year old in her car seat, I noticed her munching on something - I had not given her anything. I ask her is that some cereal left here from the day before - her response Yes!

What the heck can you do - kids find things in every nook and cranny and their logic is to eat it.

Sorry, sorry. I've been distracted the last few days and fell behind on thread reading...

Interesting stories, all.

I wonder if Pica has a distinction between "non-nutrative" foods and "untraditional" foods like dog biscuits, etc? I would imagine that dog biscuits have some nutritive properties....

Mo was never much of a mouther of things so I don't even have that experience with such unusual tastes.

dagmaraka's comment about "socially acceptable" is really the crux of the matter, isn't it?

When you think about it, all food taboos are really social things - whether they be imposed by religion or culture or whatever.

I remember trying paste and playdoh as a little kid. The playdoh was salty.

My mom loves to crunch chicken bones. It's fairly disgusting.

Had friends with a 1 1/2-year-old, who caught a rather large spider indoors and promptly ate it.

Funny thing, they ran a pest control business!!!

I can barely stand to even think about eating a live spider, eek..

Yeah, no kidding! I've heard of toddlers eating a lot of strange things, but this one wins the prize in my opinon.

The child was fine, no ill effects at all.

Which brings us back to the "What is culturally acceptable to eat?" question.

Who knows, maybe spiders are a great source of protein? <cough, hack, barf>