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 supplementary--or even backward--their 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...

Plants for Food and Medicine, the proceedings of the 1996 Economic Botany and the International Society of Ethnopharmacology Conference.

"We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink." --Epicurus

This fascinating book examines the biology and culture of foods and beverages that are consumed in communal settings, with special attention to their health implications. Nina Etkin covers a wealth of topics, exploring human evolutionary history, the Slow Food movement, ritual and ceremonial foods, caffeinated beverages, spices, the street foods of Hawaii and northern Nigeria, and even bottled water. Her work is framed by a biocultural perspective that considers both the...

First Published in 1986. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.