In which case, there is a simple, eco-friendly response. But first:
Author John McQuaid offers this nugget in an National Geographic interview, riffing his evolutionary psychology book, Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat,:
You say “flavor embodies the basic savagery of being an animal.” We taste, therefore we are?
Taste evolved in order to provide gratification from food. If you are an animal, you would go out and seek out food, and eat it, and stay alive. This has been true for hundreds of millions of years. Today, we live in a society that papers over those basic urges, but the urges are still there. They’re there every time you bite into a hamburger or drink a glass of wine. The anatomy of your brain and body responds, and these ancient impulses take over.
We think we’re dining in a refined restaurant, supping on the finest food and drink available, but actually we’re just animals devouring a kill.
Oh yes, that’s right, we promised a simple, eco-friendly response: If “flavor embodies the basic savagery of being an animal,” we can feed the foodies slaughterhouse byproducts, road kill, and cheap WalMart cat food. And eliminate all the environment issues foodies currently create due to fine dining.
Don’t worry, they’ll get used to it. After a while, maybe they won’t know the difference.
McQuaid bio: Author of “Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat,” on the science of taste, culinary history, and the future of food. My work has appeared in Smithsonian magazine, Wired, The Washington Post, Mother Jones, the Guardian and the Huffington Post. In a previous life I was a reporter for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, where I contributed to several Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. I am the co-author of “Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms.”
(The biggest superstorm of all time would happen in restaurants across the globe if they took this guy’s theory seriously.)
See also: “The evolutionary psychologist knows why you vote — and shop, and tip at restaurants”
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