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. |
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Page 140
... lactose intolerance could therefore definitely influence re- productive success . As I mentioned a moment ago , the effectiveness of milk as a source of dietary calcium is assured by the large amount of calcium in milk and by the fact that ...
... lactose intolerance could therefore definitely influence re- productive success . As I mentioned a moment ago , the effectiveness of milk as a source of dietary calcium is assured by the large amount of calcium in milk and by the fact that ...
Page 141
... lactose intolerance could lead to the nonabsorption and waste of the calorie - rich sugary part of milk , there was contradictory evi- dence concerning whether or not lactose intolerance meant that the calcium in milk also would be ...
... lactose intolerance could lead to the nonabsorption and waste of the calorie - rich sugary part of milk , there was contradictory evi- dence concerning whether or not lactose intolerance meant that the calcium in milk also would be ...
Page 149
... milk is consumed primarily in the form of yogurt . Yet yogurt can retain a ... lactose in- tolerance , the answer to why the Chinese and others in eastern ... intolerance from infancy to adulthood that is normal for our species in the ...
... milk is consumed primarily in the form of yogurt . Yet yogurt can retain a ... lactose in- tolerance , the answer to why the Chinese and others in eastern ... intolerance from infancy to adulthood that is normal for our species in the ...
Contents
ONE Good to Think or Good to Eat? | 13 |
TWO Meat Hunger | 19 |
THREE The Riddle of the Sacred Cow | 47 |
Copyright | |
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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