1. Researchers have found that when high-quality food is scarce in a patriarchal culture, men generally keep the high-quality foods - proteins and fresh produce - for themselves, relegating women to poor-quality foods like grains and other carbs. The surface reason is cultural; men get the high-quality food as an unquestioned tradition and as a reflection of the higher value of male lives in the patriarchal culture. What is another hypothesis for why this occurs? Linking this discussion with Week 1: Do you think that the "holy beef" culture of the US is primarily a male-driven phenomenon? Why or why not?
2. Are there cultures where women get the best-quality food, or ameliorate their poor diet with high-quality meals outside the home? What is different about these cultures? Why would women want to get their high-quality meals outside the home?
3. When considering the ongoing war on baby girls in India, China and other cultures, the components are infanticide, sex-selection abortion and death by neglect. What part of this war do you think is related to food, including family income level, labor to produce food, support in senior years and other social elements? Discuss your ideas in reference to the types of deaths as well as the form of food-related problem.
4. Early European colonial powers discovered people-eating in some of the indigenous peoples they met around the world. What was their initial conclusion concerning why this choice is made? What does Harris think is the driving force making some societies people-eaters and others not? Explain the theories in detail, explaining the logic and evidence.
5. What is the most compelling theory for why some cultures consider insects a delicacy and others don't? Have you ever partaken in such delicacies? Was this knowingly or unknowingly?