Why We Eat What We Eat: Explanations for Human Food Preferences and Implications for Government Regulation

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dc.contributor.advisor	Hutt, Peter Barton	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Torpoco, Edward A.	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2012-06-07T03:11:29Z
dc.date.issued	1997	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Why We Eat What We Eat: Explanations for Human Food Preferences and Implications for Government Regulation (1997 Third Year Paper)	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:8846767
dc.description.abstract	As this paper will demonstrate, however, understanding the reasons behind human food preferences can make a tremendous difference in the well-being of the world's people. To this end, Part II examines two competing theories for the origins of human food preferences: cultural idealism and cultural materialism. The first approach starts from the premise that human food preferences are fundamentally arbitrary--i.e., that food preferences are the results of irrational cultural prejudices--whereas the second theory posits that human food habits are rational adaptations to material conditions. Part III illustrates these two theory's explanations for two well-known food taboos: the American taboo on dog meat and the Indian taboo on cow slaughter.	en
dc.language.iso	en_US	en
dash.license	LAA	en_US
dc.subject	Food and Drug Law	en
dc.subject	cultural idealism	en
dc.subject	cultural materialism	en
dc.subject	taboo	en
dc.title	Why We Eat What We Eat: Explanations for Human Food Preferences and Implications for Government Regulation	en
dc.type	Paper (for course/seminar/workshop)	en_US
dc.date.available	2012-06-07T03:11:29Z