Monday, April 13, 2009

Guns, Germs and Steel

Now I am reading Guns, Germs and Steel and it is a fascinating read. I am only about a third of the way through but the things that blow me away so far are:
There are only 14 large domestic mammals
1 Sheep
2 Goat
3 Cow
4 Pig
5 Horse
6 Arabian (1 hump) camel
7 Bactrian (2 hump) camel
8 Llama/Alpaca
9 Donkey
10 Reindeer
11 Water Buffalo
12 Yak
13 Bali cattle
14 Mithan

And 80% of our calories come from only a dozen crop species
Wheat
Corn
Rice
Barley
Sorghum
Soybean
Potato
Manioc
Sweet potato
Sugarcane
Sugar beet
Banana

Not to say we don't eat other kinds of plants but for the most part they are not a major source of calories.

I always thought the raw food movement as kinda odd but this and some maps abut where the food comes from shows that the only way to eat that way is in a high-tech, high-mobility civilization.

I need to add a map that includes the food species and where they originated and where they are cultivated and can thrive.

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