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 180
... dogs per day . With meat generally in scarce supply and insects good to eat , dogflesh is a welcome addition to the Chinese menu . Traditionally the Chinese raised their dogs in the countryside , letting them scavenge for humanly ...
... dogs per day . With meat generally in scarce supply and insects good to eat , dogflesh is a welcome addition to the Chinese menu . Traditionally the Chinese raised their dogs in the countryside , letting them scavenge for humanly ...
Page 181
... ( Dogs were also present on the Tuo- motus , but little is known about how they were used . ) Virtually all Polynesian ... dogflesh . Women and children were not supposed to eat dog , but after a sacrifice , Tahitian commoners " secretly ...
... ( Dogs were also present on the Tuo- motus , but little is known about how they were used . ) Virtually all Polynesian ... dogflesh . Women and children were not supposed to eat dog , but after a sacrifice , Tahitian commoners " secretly ...
Page 183
... dog , its fidelity , at- tachment and sagacity , will remain unknown to the native . " Yet , despite their taste for dogflesh , the Polynesians treated their dogs in a petlike manner . Hawaiian women nursed puppies at their breast just ...
... dog , its fidelity , at- tachment and sagacity , will remain unknown to the native . " Yet , despite their taste for dogflesh , the Polynesians treated their dogs in a petlike manner . Hawaiian women nursed puppies at their breast just ...
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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