Summary Of The Omnivorous Mind

Food has been an important part of history from the beginning of time. We as human beings need it to survive, but it also holds developmental, psychological, and cultural importance to us as well. To further explain this theory, John Allen’s book entitled, The Omnivorous Mind, examines how our evolutionary relationship with food reveals both biological and cultural truths. A few of the theories and ideas from Allen’s book were discussed on a Harvard Press podcast. In the discussion Allen mentioned terms and concepts from his book such as, “product of multiple food histories, memory feast, the crispy food concept, and fall back foods” (Harvard Press, 2012).
In order to better understand how food reveals these different truths about our food preferences, Allen says, “it is good to consider that you are the product of multiple food histories” (Harvard Press, 2012). These histories help us to consciously and unconsciously shape our food preferences. Our own personal experiences as we grow and develop in our lives cultural environment, biological history, and evolutionary history all play a huge part in this mental process. Our family and the culture that we grow up in helps to shape what is acceptable and not acceptable food choices. Allen emphasized this by
Thanksgiving brings a sense of consciousness and the food is a representation of memories from the past, whether it be family related/personal or history in general. He believes that the Thanksgiving feast brings us back to American history by stating, “ it was designed to honor a certain version of the history of America, the pilgrims, and the corroboration of the Native Americans” (Harvard Press, 2012). In terms of personal history, he mentions that it reinforces relationships within the family and, “the passage of time” (Harvard Press,