Research publication - Forests, Trees and Agroforestry

Fischler (1988) noted that since "Food makes the eater: it is therefore natural that the eater should try to make himself by eating" (p 282). Etkin's book Foods of Association addresses, from a holistic, biocultural perspective, the questions that surround how food defines personal and cultural identity and how humans "make" themselves by eating. Foods of Association provides a broad examination of the ways foods contribute both physiologically and socially to human well-being. The book is well written, and despite the nuanced theoretical approach, easy to read and thus accessible to academic and non-academic audiences alike. This book could make an interesting contribution to course material (covering a diverse range of current topics) or simply entertain readers from a wide range of disciplines. Etkin leads her reader from one interesting fact to the next, making this book as much a pleasure to read as her previous work.