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 103
... supply them with low - cost meat could be raised . The first region to serve this function was Scotland , large areas of which were deforested and converted to pasture in order to supply England with beef and mutton ( and wool ) . It ...
... supply them with low - cost meat could be raised . The first region to serve this function was Scotland , large areas of which were deforested and converted to pasture in order to supply England with beef and mutton ( and wool ) . It ...
Page 116
... supply , “ people would rather live on corn bread for a month than eat an ounce of mutton , veal , rabbit , goose or duck , " while in Michigan in 1842 , pork was " more cherished than sweetening or whiskey , something one could never ...
... supply , “ people would rather live on corn bread for a month than eat an ounce of mutton , veal , rabbit , goose or duck , " while in Michigan in 1842 , pork was " more cherished than sweetening or whiskey , something one could never ...
Page 162
... supply ? ” This sounds like a rational proposition , but it was doomed to failure . From a nutritional standpoint , insect flesh is almost as nour- ishing as red meat or poultry . One hundred grams of African termites contains 610 ...
... supply ? ” This sounds like a rational proposition , but it was doomed to failure . From a nutritional standpoint , insect flesh is almost as nour- ishing as red meat or poultry . One hundred grams of African termites contains 610 ...
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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American amount animal foods Aztecs became become beef better body calcium calories camel cannibalism carried cattle CHAPTER consume consumption contain continued cooked costs cultures dead developed diet dingoes disease dogs domesticated drinking eaten efficient enemy entirely Europe European example explanation fact farmers feed fish flesh four give goats grain groups hamburgers Hindu horsemeat horses human hunting important increase Indians insects killing kind lack lactose lactose intolerance land less levels live means meat milk natural never nutritional percent pets plant population pork pounds practice preference Press prevent prisoners problem protection protein raising reason relatives remains result rickets sheep skin slaughter societies species supply taboo things United University vegetables village vitamin warfare women York