Is it safe to eat the first snow?

Well, it never killed me, but the air is a lot dirtier now than back when I was doing it.

I don’t see how the second or third fall could really be significantly different from the year’s first snow, at least in terms of composition.

It’s about as safe to eat as any other snow, I suppose. Chock full of whatever’s in the atmosphere.

It’s an old wives’ tale. The only snow you need to avoid is the yellow stuff.

Hmm, if it is unsafe my kids are doomed.

Didn’t you just ask this question?

But yes, it’s safe. I’d just drink some water, though.

The reason people say the first snow isn’t safe to eat is because it touches the surface of whatever you’re eating it off of. The snow itself is not actually dirty.
@Jeruba – No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the air

@jordy240 It absolutely has to do with the particles in the air (particles in the atmosphere to be more specific). If the first snow wasn’t safe to eat because it touched the ground (or surface), then why would any additional snowfalls be any different? They all touch the same surface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmVvgo1wxh4&feature=related

:))

@lucillelucillelucille Love that song!
As a child, we lived in the “Chemical Valley of the World”. We were not allowed to eat the snow.

As long as it’s not yellow

@chyna-I am not far from one now.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities And the brown stuff.

@lucillelucillelucille so what you are saying is no more Huskie snow cones??

Yes,and no more fancy lemonade in the summer either!

@jordy240, besides, only the snow on the bottom touches the surface. If it’s about contact, why would you care what’s at the bottom of a four-foot snowdrift?

what?

Whatever you’re eating it off of—the ground, the car, the porch, the branch—is touched by a layer of snow, the first snow that lands on it. But all the snow that piles on top of that doesn’t touch the thing. It only touches the snow that’s beneath it.. So if there’s a pile of snow on, say, the sidewalk, and you only eat from the top of the pile (say a 4-foot drift, or even just a few inches), who cares that the sidewalk is at the bottom? What makes it dirty is the air (atmosphere) it passed through, the soot and other pollutants it collected on the way down, and not the fact that it’s stacked on the ground.

This is assuming we’re talking about newfallen snow and not snow that has been plowed, shoveled, walked on, etc.

Yes I agree and that’s what I tried to say in my first post. I said that people say the FIRST snow isn’t safe because it’s directly in contact with the ground. The last snow is on top of other snow so it’s ok.
As for the air pollution thing – not eating the first snow has nothing to do with air pollution as that effects ALL the snow, and is irrelevant to the original question.

Aha. I think people thought you meant “the first snow of the season” (which is what we usually mean by the first snow) and not “the part of the snow that falls earliest in a given snowstorm.” That is definitely what I thought. That’s why I restated as “the year’s first snow” in my initial response.

As long as it’s not yellow I say go for it! lol

um…there are some nice restaurants that serve….you know…food…