Why do we eat what we eat.docx

8/14/2019 Why do we eat what we eat.docx

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Why do we eat what we eat?

There are a number of factors that collectively determine the type and variety of food

eaten by particular groups of individuals in a given region at a given time. These factors

are extremely complex--so complex that no one who is given all the information possible

about climate, flora, and fauna in a given area at a particular time could possibly figure

out what kind of a diet prevailed at that time and place.

Not that these factors are not important, they are very important. But they are only

contributing factors, not determining ones. For example, however much one knew about

the environment of the region now known as Thailand, it would have been impossible to

predict the “menu” that would develop over the last few hundred years. Although it could

be expected that tropical spices would play a role, who could predict that the Portuguese

would introduce chilies. And who could know that those same Portuguese would go on to

introduce fried, breaded foods in Japan that would evolve into what we think of as a

quintessential Japanese dish--tempura.

What we can do is look at regional food preferences and see factors that, of necessity,

played a role in developing a local cuisine. If we see a diet based largely on rice and

beans, we can’t ask: why not beans or rice exclusively? Without combining those two

foods, those people would have vanished from the earth thousands of years before our

study. In other words, the question of how people figure these things out is irrelevant.

Those that do, survive. Those that do not, disappear.

Nevertheless, we almost invariably find that people adapt and develop food preferences

appropriate to the region in which they live. And when climate change or other factors

change their environment, peoples may or may not adapt, but if they do not, they

disappear and are not available for study by cultural anthropologists that arrive later.

So, the question why people eat what they do is somewhat misleading since it assumes a

deliberate process. The deliberate part is that we get hungry, but unlike other species we



do not automatically eat what nature has intended. There are many foods that are found in

nature that do not require development of culinary skills to consume and they are obvious

sources of nutrition. Things like animal flesh and organs, or fruit and nuts would be eaten

by any human, no matter how primitive and no matter how inexperienced in choosing

what to eat. It would be impossible to prove this experimentally but it appears self-

evident.

But what about foods that in original state are toxic or difficult to digest? Here the species

has an advantage over the individual. If someone eats something toxic and dies, other

members of the tribe or clan will not repeat that fatal mistake. Until recently, science was

not developed to the point that we were able to analyze food stuffs and determine toxicity

and nutritional value, but we are all born equipped with some wonderful analytic tools:

smell and taste.

If human beings are established in a region of the earth in which survival is possible, they

will eventually develop a “menu” of local foods that will sustain them. This is not a quick

process. Groups like the Jivaro in the Amazon rain forest could not simply show up, craft

blowguns and darts tipped with curare and feast on small game brought down from the

forest canopy. It necessarily takes many lifetimes for developments like this.

Another factor is social organization. When the first humans crossed over either a land

bridge or a small water gap to populate North and South America they found many large

mammals that became extinct long before the arrival of Europeans. Animals such as the

mammoth could not possibly be hunted by a single individual. Somehow methods were

developed to make possible hunting these huge creatures to extinction by groups of

hunters working together.

Moving ahead to far more sophisticated food customs of recent history, we see a number

of important factors in what we eat. Much depends on what is available in our

environment. Cultures that develop on shores of oceans, seas, or large inland lakes will

have a cuisine in which seafood plays an important role. It is not surprising to find that



insects are a popular delicacy in regions like Southeast Asia since they have so many

varieties of large insects.

A major factor in diets around the world resulted from the so-called Columbian

Exchange. We know about the devastating Irish potato famine that took so many lives

and sent many Irish to this country. But only a few hundred years earlier there were no

potatoes in Europe. Today you can find corn on the cob all over the world. Once it could

only be found in the Western hemisphere.

Greenland was once settled by Norse farmers. But the Little Ice Age made it impossible

for them to survive with European agriculture and farm animals. Most of them died. A

few may have survived by going back to Iceland. Meanwhile Inuits a short distance north

of the Norse settlements were doing quite well using far more primitive technologies that

nonetheless allow them to get the sustenance they needed from the sea. The Inuits had

developed their food culture and its technology over thousands of years.

Ideology is another factor behind cultural food choices. We can only speculate on why

Jews and Muslims avoid pork (as well as other foods) while Hindus abstain from beef. In

the modern era, Catholics ate fish on Friday until Rome decided that fish was optional.

This may have had something to do with the price of fish becoming out of reach for many

low-income families.

Many food practices with religious roots have gone even farther away from their ancient

origins. Jewish dietary rules require that animals to be kosher must die peacefully and

painlessly. A specially trained individual using a very sharp knife is supposed to open the

major blood vessels in the neck. There is little or no pain as the life flows out of the

animal. What a nice idea (please forgive the sarcasm). Now there is an industrial version.

A few years ago, someone got a job in a kosher slaughterhouse (that may not be the right

word for such an establishment). He smuggled in a video camera and recorded the

modern industrial version. The cow is forced down a narrow path to the killing area.

Suddenly an enormous claw drops down from the ceiling, grabs the animal, turns it



upside down and lifts it so that its throat is about five feet above the floor. Then a man

wearing a waterproof coat drenched with blood moves in and cuts the animal’s throat.

There is blood everywhere. This was on eBay a few years ago.

If we look at the reasons behind the modern American diet, we see far different factors

dictating what most of us eat. To begin with, human beings, by their nature like things

that are fat and sweet. This makes a lot of sense in a primitive environment. Most sweet

things are good for us. Not only that but fats and sweets have survival value. Sweets are a

source of quick energy and fats are important to carry us from meal to meal in an

environment where the next meal might not be for another day or two. Pemmican, for

example, has a lot of fat.

The next factor is what we are told by the government. The original USDA food pyramid

recommended a diet rich in grains. Since that first pyramid, the weight of Americans had

skyrocketed. Many explanations are offered. The calories in, calories out theorists say

that Americans must be eating more or exercising less. The fact is that Americans are

exercising much more than they were a half-century ago. Back then aerobics was a new

word and Runners World’s annual shoe issue could review every single running shoe on

the market--all ten of them! So then there is the calories in part. This is definitely true of

people who derive a good deal of nourishment from fast food. A half century ago a 15-

cent McDonald's burger was smaller that anything they sell today. Then came bigger and

bigger sandwiches and the supersize concept.

But not everybody eats this stuff. What about them? Unfortunately, the grain rich diet

suggested by the government triggers insulin production and that accelerates fat storage.

Years ago, it was tough to sell some of today’s calorie-rich (read sugar and starch) easy-

to-prepare foods. The typical single-wage-earner family in the early post-world-war-2

had a full-time one-person kitchen staff. This presented a problem for the first cake mix

products that required only water added to the mix. Market research disclosed that

women felt guilty about using something required so little from them. So the makers had

the mixes require the addition of a “fresh egg” and sales took off. Then the TV dinner



arrived and the food industry never looked back. They had a winning formula. Easy of

preparation with plenty of sugar and fat and the cash register never stopped ringing.

Breakfast cereals proliferated. From corn flakes came Rice Krispies, Wheaties, Cheerios,

and Shredded Wheat and so on until today with whole aisles filled with this type of product updated with bright colors and sugar. The freezer cases loaded with prefab foods

are not much better and just as expensive.

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Why do we eat what we eat.docx