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 74
... explanation for the pig's love of wallowing in mud . By wallowing , it dissipates heat both by evaporation from its skin and by con- duction through the cool ground . Experiments show that the cooling effect of mud is superior to that ...
... explanation for the pig's love of wallowing in mud . By wallowing , it dissipates heat both by evaporation from its skin and by con- duction through the cool ground . Experiments show that the cooling effect of mud is superior to that ...
Page 108
... explanation of the United States ' aversion to horseflesh . I have not as yet given proper recognition to the fact that Americans exhibit a hierarchy of avoidances and preferences for various other kinds of meats and that the horse is ...
... explanation of the United States ' aversion to horseflesh . I have not as yet given proper recognition to the fact that Americans exhibit a hierarchy of avoidances and preferences for various other kinds of meats and that the horse is ...
Page 202
... explanation , since , as I have argued with respect to insects , pork , and dead cows and horses , vigorous cooking greatly reduces their health - threatening qualities . There would be social danger as well . Cannibalism practiced on ...
... explanation , since , as I have argued with respect to insects , pork , and dead cows and horses , vigorous cooking greatly reduces their health - threatening qualities . There would be social danger as well . Cannibalism practiced on ...
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