Millions of people eat bamboo shoots, and altogether 2.5 billion trade in it or use it.

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Japan was a nation prostrate, the population surviving on bamboo shoots and sweet potatoes.

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The gentle vegetarians eat up to 45 pounds a day of things like bamboo shoots, wild celery and berries.

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There would also be a soup, usually made of spinach or watercress or bamboo shoots mixed with dried shrimp, tofu, or egg drops, or even rice crust.

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