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, best-selling author Marvin Harris leads readers on an informative detective adventure to solve the worlds major food puzzles. He explains the diversity of the worlds gastronomic customs, demonstrating that what appear at first glance to be irrational food tastes turn out really to have been shaped by practical, 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 its 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
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... fish consists of protein. And with one or two exceptions, the quality of proteins in foods of animal origin is higher than the quality of the proteins in plant foods. The nutritional importance of protein is that the body uses it to ...
... fish, fowl, and milk solids consists of proteins. In contrast, the protein content of cooked cereals ranges from about 2.5 percent to 10 percent. Cooked legumes—beans, peanuts, lentils, peas—fall in the same range (they have higher ...
... fish, fowl, and dairy products make it possible to obtain extra “catch-up” proteins without bulky meals that people are unlikely to be able to eat, especially if they are recovering from stressful traumas and infections. This is one of ...
... fish, and liver, are the best sources. Animal foods even contain enough vitamin C to satisfy daily recommended allowances. By eating copious amounts of animal flesh and bone marrow, the Eskimo maintained themselves in excellent health ...
... fish, or poultry need not shrink from enjoying the products made possible by the technology for mass-producing fine flour. These products include not only much-criticized industrial loaves of white bread but the entire European ...
Contents
13 | |
19 | |
47 | |
The Abominable Pig
| 67 |
Hippophagy
| 88 |
Holy Beef USA
| 109 |
Lactophiles and Lactophobes Milk Lovers and Milk Haters
| 130 |
Small Things
| 154 |
Dogs Cats Dingoes and Other Pets
| 175 |
People Eating
| 199 |
Better to Eat
| 235 |
References | 249 |
Bibliography | 258 |
Index | 275 |