How did people know what foods were edible and which ones weren’t?
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There are some tests you can do to learn if an unknown thing is dangerous to eat. It’s a gradual process of trying something, waiting to see if there is a response, and if not, try a little bit more. In this case, you start off simply rubbing it against your skin. If it forms a rash or has some other negative reaction, you probably shouldn’t put it down your throat. If nothing bad happens, you put a little on your lips. Nothing bad, then hold it in your mouth for a bit then spit it out. Nothing bad, swallow a tiny piece. Nothing bad, try a larger piece. Nothing bad, it’s likely at least safe to eat. If at any point something negative happens, you’ve learned not to eat that thing. And if part of a community, you can teach others not to eat that thing.
Now there is some trickiness in that many foods aren’t edible until cooked or processed in some way. The same technique can be applied to cooking stuff then trying small to larger portions to see if anything negative happens.
Some of the weirder stuff is likely to have been discovered in more desperate times. Without the modern abundance of food, communities could face difficult times if something eliminated their typical source of food. In which case they may have to try all sorts of different things to find something which can provide nourishment.
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