There are not many areas that are more rooted in both the biological and social-cultural aspects of humankind than diet and nutrition. Throughout human history nutrition has been shaped by political, economic, and cultural forces, and in turn, access to food and nutrition has altered the course and direction of human societies. Using a biocultural approach, the contributors to this volume investigate the ways in which food is both an essential resource fundamental to human health and an expression of human culture and society. The chapters deal with aspects of diet and human nutrition through space and time and span prehistoric, historic, and contemporary societies spread over various geographical regions, including Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia to highlight how biology and culture are inextricably linked.

Revised for the first time in ten years, the second edition of Nutritional Anthropology: Biocultural Perspectives on Food and Nutrition continues to blend biological and cultural approaches to this dynamic discipline. While this revision maintains the format and philosophy that grounded the first edition, the text has been revamped and revitalized with new and updated readings, sections, introductions, and pedagogical materials that cover current global food trade and persistent problems of hunger in equal measure. Unlike any other book on the market, Nutritional Anthropology fuses issues past and present, local and global, and biological and cultural in order to give students a comprehensive foundation in food and nutrition.

Abstract: Nutritional states result from both biological and cultural forces. The consideration of nutritional problems from a biocultural perspective comprises the field of nutritional anthropology. Eleven papers are presented representing the efforts of researchers who have examined nutrition in this social context. Their theoretical approach combines the nutritional and social sciences in investigations of the sociocultural, cognitive and ecological aspects of food. The methodology of nutritional anthropology is applied in a study of women's roles in rural Africa. Human dietary adaptations in the evolution of human culture are investigated in a case study of 2 prehistoric populations. The food patterns of a contemporary group demonstrates nutritional adaptation and cultural maladaptation. Demographic effects of sex-specific diets and nutritional correlates of economic microdifferentiation are examined. Other topics deal with malnutrition, diet and acculturation, and health food movement.

In this accessible ethnography of a small town in northern Mozambique, everyday cultural knowledge and behaviors about food, cooking, and eating reveal the deeply human pursuit of a nourishing life. This emerges less through the consumption of specific nutrients than it does in the affective experience of alimentation in contexts that support vitality, compassion, and generative relations. Embedded within central themes in the study of Africa south of the Sahara, the volume combines insights from philosophy and food studies to find textured layers of meaning in a seemingly simple cuisine.

This collection of readings exposes students to the breadth of theoretical viewpoints and issues in the field of nutritional anthropology.

ÒWe should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.Ó ÑEpicurus This fascinating book examines the biology and culture of foods and beverages that are consumed in communal settings, with special attention to their health implications. Nina Etkin covers a wealth of topics, exploring human evolutionary history, the Slow Food movement, ritual and ceremonial foods, caffeinated beverages, spices, the street foods of Hawaii and northern Nigeria, and even bottled water. Her work is framed by a biocultural perspective that considers both the physiological implications of consumption and the cultural construction and circulation of foods. For Etkin, the foods and beverages we consume are simultaneously Òbiodynamic substances and cultural objects.Ó The book begins with a look at the social eating habits of our primate relatives and discusses our evolutionary adaptations. It then offers a history of social foods in the era of European expansion, with a focus on spices and Òcaffeinated cordials.Ó (Of course, there were some powerful physiological consequences of eating foods brought home by returning explorers, and those are considered tooÑalong with consequences for native peoples.) From there, the book describes Òstreet food,Ó which is always served in communal settings. Etkin then scrutinizes ceremonial foods and beverages, and considers their pharmacological effects as well. Her extensive examination concludes by assessing the biological and cultural implications of bottled water. While intended primarily for scholars, this enticing book serves up a tantalizing smorgasbord of food for thought.

Overnutrition? Undernutrition? Cutting through current anxiety and hype, Small Bites answers key questions about child nutrition and eating by exploring their biological and sociocultural determinants. Are children naturally picky eaters? How can school meals help to address food insecurity and malnutrition? How has the industrial food system commodified children’s food and shaped children’s bodies? Tina Moffat investigates the feeding of children in school and at home around the world, revealing the influence of varied cultural approaches to childhood and food. This important work sets a course for food policy, schools, communities, and caregivers to improve children’s food and nutrition.