`` What they found was that they have been able to survive through prolonged protein deficits by eating higher protein leaves and the INNER BARK OF TREES during lean times``
Nothing new:
``If legends hold true then the Iroquois moved from the Southwest to the East over a long period of time. In their journey they canoed up the St. Lawrence River and in Three Rivers, Quebec (Canada), they were enslaved by the Algonquins. The Iroquois called them the Adirondacks. Which meant “bark eaters.” They had a habit of flavoring their food with shredded bark.``
http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/IroquoisIntro.html
Perhaps they used sassafras bark which is tasty and aromatic. Also elm bark makes a soothing syrup for sore throat and cough. I think we like french fries and popcorn because we ate crunchy on the outside soft on the inside insects in quantity in the past. Remember the chimps fishing in termite/ant mounds with little twigs.