ABSTRACT
Food and eating are central aspects of human existence. The study of nutrition extends from the levels of individual survival to the realms of political economy, social exchange, and ritual and symbolic meaning-production (Counihan 1999; Counihan and Van Esterik 1997; Mintz and Du Bois 2002). This selection examines the practice of geophagy, or the eating of dirt. Many animals, including nonhuman primates, regularly consume dirt (see Diamond 1999), and human groups across the globe do so on a regular basis, whether unwittingly or deliberately. Eating dirt on purpose is considered a disease by Western biomedicine, illustrating the social construction of disease categories. This view has been an obstacle to understanding by researchers or physicians who consider such behavior quirky at best and pathological at worst.
