This book examines how the perceived edibility of animals evolved during the colonization of the Americas. Early European colonizers ate a variety of animals in the Americas, motivated by factors like curiosity, starvation, and diplomacy. As settlements increased and became more sustainable, constructs of edibility shifted and the colonial food system evolved accordingly. By exploring the changes in animal edibility identifiable in early modern Spanish, French, and English sources in the regions of Mesoamerica, Greater Amazonia, and the east coast of North America, this book shows that animals, foodways, and settler colonialism are inextricably linked and that the colonization of the Americas was not only the beginning of new empires, but also of a long-lasting colonial food culture that drives both food systems and human-animal relationships to the present day.
Format: Paperback / softback
CONTRIBUTORS: Danielle Alesi
EAN: 9781041178552
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
PAGES: 156
WEIGHT:
HEIGHT: 234 mm
PUBLISHED BY: Taylor & Francis Ltd
DATE PUBLISHED: 2026-10-16
CITY:
GENRE: HISTORY / Modern / 17th Century, HISTORY / Modern / 16th Century, HISTORY / Social History
WIDTH: 156 mm
SPINE:
Book Themes:
Cultural studies: food and society, History of the Americas, Social and cultural history
Danielle Alesi is an Assistant Professor of History at Nazareth University in Rochester, NY. She teaches and publishes on medieval and early modern colonialism, environmentalism, animal, and food history in Europe and the Atlantic World.