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Geographic Perspectives on Man’s Food Quest

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Food, Man, and Society

Abstract

My “geographical perspectives on man’s food quest” are closely linked to Lynn White’s views of food and history, for geography, as Herodotus wrote, is the “handmaiden of history.” “Geography and history,” wrote Ellen Churchill Semple (1) “cannot be held apart without dismembering what is a natural, vital whole.” Thus my talk today has a strong historical component. It is also concerned with differences among human cultures as they relate to man’s foodways — those customs that regulate man’s use of the food resources available to him. In addition my talk considers distributions on the earth’s surface, and the spread, through history, of culture traits and complexes that relate to food. Finally my perspective is conditioned by the strong earth science tradition in geography, with its environmental and ecological concerns.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, 94616, USA

    F. J. Simoons Ph.D.

Authors
  1. F. J. Simoons Ph.D.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Dwain N. Walcher

  2. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Norman Kretchmer

  3. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, USA

    Henry L. Barnett

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© 1976 Plenum Press, New York

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Simoons, F.J. (1976). Geographic Perspectives on Man’s Food Quest. In: Walcher, D.N., Kretchmer, N., Barnett, H.L. (eds) Food, Man, and Society. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2298-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2298-6_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-2300-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-2298-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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