Anthropology / Everything Human

Hmong Gardeners in America’s Dairyland

Food

  • The Human Palate

  • Snapshot

    Soon after Jeffrey Cohen and his wife, Maria, arrived in Oaxaca, Mexico, they were invited to a wedding. This experience, over two decades ago, ushered in their fieldwork and revealed how much they had to learn.

    The Uninvited Invitados

    A couple of young gringo anthropologists adjust to village life in Oaxaca, Mexico. They start with a wedding—and the food.

  • The Human Palate

    Lao Camp Food (Part 2)

    A bomb clearance team in Laos eagerly buys bush meat from local hunters. Then they realize they're eating threatened and endangered species.

  • Viewpoint

    Anorexia’s Deadly Deceit

    Anorexia is not just about striving for an idealized body image. It is an obsessive, relentless—and futile—quest to be pure, perfect, and clean.

  • The Human Palate

    Lao Camp Food (Part 1)

    I recently spent several days camping with a bomb clearance team in southern Laos. Quick history: Laos, per capita, is the most heavily bombed country on Earth. Between 1964 and 1973, U.S. forces flew more than 580,000 bombing missions over the country in an effort to root out Communists and stop the supply chain along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hundreds of millions of bombs were dropped; up …

  • The Human Palate

    As with food, how coffee is prepared varies greatly from culture to culture. Across many parts of Southeast Asia, for example, the local coffee is served over sweetened condensed milk.

    Coffee To Go

    Coffee is a cultural drink, prepared different ways in different places—which can be a hassle for travelers seeking their regular cuppa Joe. Here’s one solution.