Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and CultureWhy are human food habits so diverse? Why do Americans recoil at the thought of dog meat? Jews and Moslems, pork? Hindus, beef? Why do Asians abhor milk? In Good to Eat, bestselling author Marvin Harris leads readers on an informative detective adventure to solve the world's major food puzzles. He explains the diversity of the world's gastronomic customs, demonstrating that what appear at first glance to be irrational food tastes turn out really to have been shaped by practical, or economic, or political necessity. In addition, his smart and spirited treatment sheds wisdom on such topics as why there has been an explosion in fast food, why history indicates that it's "bad" to eat people but "good" to kill them, and why children universally reject spinach. Good to Eat is more than an intellectual adventure in food for thought. It is a highly readable, scientifically accurate, and fascinating work that demystifies the causes of myriad human cultural differences. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 6
Page 142
... fire to clear the forests , planting cereals in small gardens , and letting their animals graze on the grasslands which grew up after the trees were burnt off . In this mode of subsistence , there was little room for planting calcium ...
... fire to clear the forests , planting cereals in small gardens , and letting their animals graze on the grasslands which grew up after the trees were burnt off . In this mode of subsistence , there was little room for planting calcium ...
Page 205
... fire about two paces from the prisoner which he has to tend . After this a woman brings the club ... shrieking with joy , and running to and fro before the prisoner so that he may see it . Then a man takes the club and standing before ...
... fire about two paces from the prisoner which he has to tend . After this a woman brings the club ... shrieking with joy , and running to and fro before the prisoner so that he may see it . Then a man takes the club and standing before ...
Page 213
... fire , which they held close against the flesh , by blowing upon it . Others bound cords around him and then set them on fire , thus burning him slowly and causing him the keenest agony . There were some who made him put his feet on red ...
... fire , which they held close against the flesh , by blowing upon it . Others bound cords around him and then set them on fire , thus burning him slowly and causing him the keenest agony . There were some who made him put his feet on red ...
Contents
ONE Good to Think or Good to Eat? | 13 |
TWO Meat Hunger | 19 |
THREE The Riddle of the Sacred Cow | 47 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Aborigines agricultural American amino acids animal flesh animal foods anthropologist aversion Aztecs beef body bones Brahmans breeds calcium calories camel cattle chicken Chinese cholesterol consume consumption cooked corn costs cud-chewers cultures dairy diet dietary dingoes disease dogflesh dogs domestic animals drinking eaten ecological efficient enemy Europe European fact farmers fast-food feed fish foodways forest goats grain grams hamburgers Hindu horseflesh horsemeat horses human flesh hunting Ibid Indians insectivory insects Islam Israelites killing lactase sufficiency lactase-deficient lactose lactose intolerance large numbers leafy vegetables less Leviticus line 14 line 32 live locusts meat hunger milk Moslems mutton nutritional optimal foraging theory osteomalacia oxen percent pets plant foods plows population pork pounds practice preference prisoners protein raising ritual ruminants sheep skin slaughter societies sources of animal species spurn Staden taboo Tamil Nadu trichinosis Tupinamba vitamin vitamin D warfare cannibalism women xerophthalmia York