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
Results 6-10 of 89
... consumption as a means of combating malnutrition in the Third World. They charge that a more realistic approach to alleviating malnutrition would be simply to increase the supply of grains or even root crops, and that by adding legumes ...
... consumption of sweets and starches.) Animal foods are also concentrated sources of essential minerals. Iron, needed for oxygen transport in the blood, occurs in animal foods—except milk—in greater abundance and in a more usable form ...
... consumption in former times was the exclusive privilege of royalty. While the absence of fiber does not substantially detract from the package of nutrients in animal food, the presence of other substances—especially fat and cholesterol ...
... consumption, cholesterol and fat in the diet, and coronary heart disease remains obscure. There are many unexplained facts. For example, in the Prevention Trial, the effectiveness of cholestryamine therapy varied from one participating ...
... consumption in proper perspective is that wild animal carcasses contain a polyunsaturated fat (called eicosapent ... consumption of meat, fish, poultry, and dairy products from the levels they have reached in the United States and other ...
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 |