An Edible History of Humanity Read Online Free

fathers, the four men, who were created.” The Maya believed they were descended from these four men
     and their wives, who were created shortly afterward.
    Maize also features in the story told by the Incas of South America to explain their origins. In ancient times, it is said,
     the people around Lake Titicaca lived like wild animals. The sun god, Inti, took pity on them and sent his son Manco Capac
     and his daughter Mama Ocllo, who were also husband and wife, to civilize them. Inti gave Manco Capac a golden stick with which
     to test the fertility of the soil and its suitability for growing maize. Having found a suitable place, they were to found
     a state and instruct its people in the proper worship of the sun god. The couple’s travels finally brought them to the Cuzco
     Valley, where the golden stick disappeared into the ground. Manco Capac taught the people about farming and irrigation, Mama
     Ocllo taught them about spinning and weaving, and the valley became the center of the Inca civilization. Maize was regarded
     as a sacred crop by the Incas, even though potatoes also formed a large part of their diet.
    Rice too appears in countless myths in the countries where it is grown. In Chinese myths, rice appears to save mankind when
     it is on the verge of starvation. According to one story, the goddess Guan Yin took pity on the starving humans and squeezed
     her breasts to produce milk, which flowed into the previously empty ears of the rice plants to become rice grains. She then
     pressed harder, causing a mixture of blood and milk to flow into some of the plants. This is said to explain why rice exists
     in both red and white varieties. Another Chinese tale tells of a great flood, after which very few animals remained for hunting.
     As they searched for food, the people saw a dog coming toward them with bunches of long, yellow seeds hanging from its tail.
     They planted the seeds, which grew into rice and dispelled their hunger forever. In a different series of rice myths, told
     in Indonesia and throughout the islands of Indochina, rice appears as a delicate and virtuous maiden. The Indonesian rice
     goddess, Sri, is the goddess of the earth who protects the people against hunger. One story tells how Sri was killed by the
     other gods to protect her from the lecherous advances of the king of the gods, Batara Guru. When her body was buried, rice
     sprouted from her eyes and sticky rice grew from her chest. Filled with remorse, Batara Guru gave these crops to mankind to
     cultivate.
    The tale of the creation of the world and the emergence of civilization told by the Sumerians, the ancient inhabitants of
     what is now southern Iraq, refers to a time after the creation of the world by Anu, when people existed but agriculture was
     unknown. Ashnan, the grain goddess, and Lahar, the goddess of sheep, had not yet appeared; Tagtug, patron of the craftsmen,
     had not been born; and Mirsu, the god of irrigation, and Sumugan, the god of cattle, had not arrived to help mankind. As a
     result, “the grain . . . and barley-grain for the cherished multitudes were not yet known.” Instead, the people ate grass
     and drank water. The goddesses of grain and flocks were then created to provide food for the gods, but no matter how much
     the gods ate, they were not filled. Only with the emergence of civilized men, who made regular offerings of food to the gods,
     were the gods’ appetites finally satisfied. So domesticated crops and animals were a gift to man that conferred upon him an
     obligation to make regular food offerings to the gods. This tale preserves a folk memory of a time before the adoption of
     farming, when humans were still foragers. Similarly, a Sumerian hymn to the grain goddess describes a barbaric age before
     cities, fields, sheepfolds, and cattle stalls—an era that came to an end when the grain goddess inaugurated a new era of civilization.
    Contemporary explanations of the genetic basis of plant and