Social and Cultural Theory question and reading

II. For March 21: The reading is, “Holy Beef, U.S.A.”

(Again, before reading it, take a look at the four-page background, “Foodways.”)

Harris continued to study food and eating norms in many other countries, including the U.S. In 1985, he wrote the book, Good to Eat. In it he examined many interesting topics, such as cannibalism, insect eating and why Americans don’t eat horsemeat. The reading for today is his materialist theory for why beef consumption grew in the U.S. Here are the quiz questions:

1. On page 129, Harris says,

“[I] hope that I have demonstrated that the principal features of

America’s meat preference hierarchy—from horsemeat to beef

and chicken—have rapidly adapted to novel combinations of

nutritional, ecological, economic, and political conditions rather

than remaining fixed and unresponsive as an arbitrary heritage

passed on from the remote past.” See questions on next page…

1. Explain how he demonstrates the force of the nutritional, ecological, economic and political factors in our meat preference hierarchy.

2. On what basis did Harris form his prediction that Americans would eat more chicken than beef by the 21st century? (Do a simple search to see if his prediction was correct.)