Cultures of Milk: The Biology and Meaning of Dairy Products in the United States and India

Author:   Andrea S. Wiley
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
ISBN:  

9780674729056


Pages:   208
Publication Date:   09 June 2014
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
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Cultures of Milk: The Biology and Meaning of Dairy Products in the United States and India


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Overview

Milk is the only food mammals produce naturally to feed their offspring. The human species is the only one that takes milk from other animals and consumes it beyond weaning age. Cultures of Milk contrasts the practices of the world's two leading milk producers, India and the United States. In both countries, milk is considered to have special qualities. Drawing on ethnographic and scientific studies, popular media, and government reports, Andrea Wiley reveals that the cultural significance of milk goes well beyond its nutritive value. Shifting socioeconomic and political factors influence how people perceive the importance of milk and how much they consume. In India, where milk is out of reach for many, consumption is rising rapidly among the urban middle class. But milk drinking is declining in America, despite the strength of the dairy industry. Milk is bound up in discussions of food scarcity in India and food abundance in the United States. Promotion of milk as a means to enhance child growth boosted consumption in twentieth-century America and is currently doing the same in India, where average height is low. Wiley considers how variation among populations in the ability to digest lactose and ideas about how milk affects digestion influence the type of milk and milk products consumed. In India, most milk comes from buffalo, but cows have sacred status for Hindus. In the United States, cow's milk has long been a privileged food, but is now facing competition from plant-based milk.

Full Product Details

Author:   Andrea S. Wiley
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
Imprint:   Harvard University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.463kg
ISBN:  

9780674729056


ISBN 10:   0674729056
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   09 June 2014
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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Reviews

Cultures of Milk is a lucid and concise exploration of two of the world's great dairying cultures. Wiley's mastery of the material is evident throughout, as she weaves cultural, biological, historical, and nutritional data into a theoretically coherent narrative. It should be of interests to all students of food, whatever their particular angle is on the topic--nutritionists, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, etc.--John S. Allen, University of Southern California


Cultures of Milk is a lucid and concise exploration of two of the world s great dairying cultures. Wiley s mastery of the material is evident throughout, as she weaves cultural, biological, historical, and nutritional data into a theoretically coherent narrative. It should be of interests to all students of food, whatever their particular angle is on the topic nutritionists, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, etc.--John S. Allen, University of Southern California


Author Information

Andrea S. Wiley is Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University.

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