Synopses & Reviews
People have long used wild plants as food and medicine, and for a myriad of other important cultural applications. While these plants and the foraging activities associated with them have been dismissed by some observers as secondary or supplementaryor even backwardtheir contributions to human survival and well-being are more significant than is often realized.
Eating on the Wild Side spans the history of human-plant interactions to examine how wild plants are used to meet medicinal, nutritional, and other human needs. Drawing on nonhuman primate studies, evidence from prehistoric human populations, and field research among contemporary peoples practicing a range of subsistence strategies, the book focuses on the processes and human ecological implications of gathering, semidomestication, and cultivation of plants that are unfamiliar to most of us.Contributions by distinguished cultural and biological anthropologists, paleobotanists, primatologists, and ethnobiologists explore a number of issues such as the consumption of unpalatable and famine foods, the comparative assessment of aboriginal diets with those of colonists and later arrivals, and the apparent self-treatment by sick chimpanzees with leaves shown to be pharmacologically active. Collectively, these articles offer a theoretical framework emphasizing the cultural evolutionary processes that transform plants from wild to domesticatedwith many steps in betweenwhile placing wild plant use within current discussions surrounding biodiversity and its conservation.
Eating on the Wild Side makes an important contribution to our understanding of the links between biology and culture, describing the interface between diet, medicine, and natural products. By showing how various societies have successfully utilized wild plants, it underscores the growing concern for preserving genetic diversity as it reveals a fascinating chapter in the human ecology.CONTENTS1. The Cull of the Wild, Nina L. Etkin
Selection
2. Agriculture and the Acquisition of Medicinal Plant Knowledge, Michael H. Logan and Anna R. Dixon
3. Ambivalence to the Palatability Factors in Wild Food Plants, Timothy Johns
4. Wild Plants as Cultural Adaptations to Food Stress, Rebecca Huss-Ashmore and Susan L. JohnstonPhysiologic Implications of Wild Plant Consumption
5. Pharmacologic Implications of "Wild" Plants in Hausa Diet, Nina L. Etkin and Paul J. Ross
6. Wild Plants as Food and Medicine in Polynesia, Paul Alan Cox
7. Characteristics of "Wild" Plant Foods Used by Indigenous Populations in Amazonia, Darna L. Dufour and Warren M. Wilson
8. The Health Significance of Wild Plants for the Siona and Secoya, William T. Vickers
9. North American Food and Drug Plants, Daniel M. MoermanWild Plants in Prehistory
10. Interpreting Wild Plant Foods in the Archaeological Record, Frances B. King
11. Coprolite Evidence for Prehistoric Foodstuffs, Condiments, and Medicines, Heather B. Trigg, Richard I. Ford, John G. Moore and Louise D. JessopPlants and Nonhuman Primates
12. Nonhuman Primate Self-Medication with Wild Plant Foods, Kenneth E. Glander
13. Wild Plant Use by Pregnant and Lactating Ringtail Lemurs, with Implications for Early Hominid Foraging, Michelle L. SautherEpilogue
14. In Search of Keystone Societies, Brien A. Meilleur
Review
"The value and contribution of this book is not just as a mere survey of plants; rather, it attempts successfully to indicate and share with the reader how plants contributed to shaping several very different societies. . . . Most rewarding." Forest and Conservation History"A most important and serious collection of papers on the relevance of wild species of plants to people since human life began." Biodiversity and Conservation"It leaves no doubt about the importance of noncultigens in human diets and healing activities." American Anthropologist"A wonderful, thought-provoking collection." Economic Botany
About the Author
Nina Etkin is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii. She is editor of Plants in Indigenous Medicine and Diet: Biobehavioral Approaches.
Table of Contents
The cull of the wild / Nina L. Etkin -- Agriculture and the acquisition of medicinal plant knowledge / Michael H. Logan and Anna R. Dixon -- Ambivalence to the palatability factors in wild food plants / Timothy Johns -- Wild plants as cultural adaptations to food stress / Rebecca Huss-Ashmore and Susan L. Johnston -- Pharmacologic implications of "wild" plants in Hausa diet / Nina L. Etkin and Paul J. Ross -- Wild plants as food and medicine in Polynesia / Paul Alan Cox -- Characteristics of "wild" plant foods used by indigenous populations in Amazonia / Darna L. Dufour and Warren M. Wilson -- The health significance of wild plants for the Siona and Secoya / William T. Vickers -- North American food and drug plants / Daniel E. Moerman -- Interpreting wild plant foods in the archaeological record / Frances B. King -- Coprolite evidence for prehistoric foodstuffs, condiments, and medicines / Heather B. Trigg ... et al. -- Nonhuman primate self-medication with wild plant foods / Kenneth E. Glander -- Wild plant use by pregnant and lactating ringtailed lemurs, with implications for early Hominid foraging / Michelle L. Sauther -- In search of "keystone societies" / Brien A. Meilleur.