Amongst the current pile of books foraging into global food problems, I picked up An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage. It’s very strong on the role of food in shaping history but a bit weak on contemporary issues.
One extraordinary assertion is that “modern Greeks and Turks are still shorter than their Stone Age ancestors.” Standage says that hunter-gatherers were much healthier than the farmers they eventually became, thanks to a more diverse diet.
Archaeological finds suggest that the average height of men fell by no less than six inches between the last ice age and the time of the Pharoahs. The book also points out that “being a hunter-gatherer was much more fun.”
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this post was first published by OneWorld UK