What is edible?

A journey through the world of food taboos and food cultures

Adel P. den Hartog (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

122 Seiten

2024
Brill (Verlag)
978-90-04-69431-6 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

Adel den Hartog shows how complex the food choices of humans have been for millenia. Those who wonder why we eat what we eat, will find out practicalities, such as availability of products, transportation and costs, but also physiological, cultural, geological, and psychological factors matter. Den Hartog points out the importance of access to food for individuals and groups, and the influence of their socio-economical position.
Can someone be convinced to eat something that they perceive as inedible? This book gives many examples of our limited flexibility, whether caused by an intolerance for genetical reasons, or because we simply did not know the food and want to keep it that way. Food habits are slow to respond to interventions, but these days, a meatless meal is no longer a sign of poverty.

The book will attract the culturally interested reader. It can be used as a handbook for those who want to understand the background of our eating habits. The knowledge in this book can be used for a large range of interventions when it comes to food and life style.

Adel P. den Hartog Ph.D. (1986), was appointed to the Department of Human Nutrition at Wageningen University of Agriculture. As a social geographer, he added new aspects to Wageningen food research and education. His historical work was presented at conferences and in volumes of the International Commission for Research into European Food History (ICREFH). He died on 26 September 2012 in Bennekom. He was 75 years old.

Accountability

Word in advance

Introduction

1 Why do we eat what we eat?

Unknown and unloved

Humans as carnivores

Humans as man-eaters

Inedible becomes edible

What determines food choices?

2 Food diffusion—the long road from unknown to known

An old and new phenomenon

The spread of sugar and spices

New thirst quenchers—coffee and tea

The battle for the thirsty throat

The potato: from botanical curiosity to staple food

The integration of the tomato

Decline in fruit and vegetable consumption

3 Food taboos, food laws and rules

Food taboos

The changing power of alcohol prohibition

Fasting

Culturally defined rules about nutrition

Permanent food bans

4 The meaning of meat

Pork: beloved or banned

The sacred cow

A horse is a noble animal

Vegetarianism and veganism

5 Rats, dogs and insects—delicious or disgusting?

Rats and rodents

Dog as a delicacy?!

Insects as food

6 Milk, the Dutch white engine

Drinking milk: a special custom

The history of dairy consumption

Milk in different cultures

Explanations for the absence of milk in the diet

The modern era

Afterword: Is a change as good as a feast?

About Adel den Hartog

Literature consulted

Erscheinungsdatum	22.08.2024
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	englisch
Maße	170 x 245 mm
Themenwelt	Weitere Fachgebiete ► Land- / Forstwirtschaft / Fischerei
ISBN-10	90-04-69431-5 / 9004694315
ISBN-13	978-90-04-69431-6 / 9789004694316
Zustand	Neuware