Ecological effects of different food taboos in different places

raharris1973

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What if there was no pork taboo in the Mediterranean world?

What if India-Pakistan was all Hindu having anti-beef but not anti-pork taboos?

What if India was overwhelmingly Muslim and had an anti-pork taboo but no taboo on beef?

What if some cultures in the Mediterranean had an anti-beef taboo?

What if China or Russia were Muslim and had an anti-pork taboo?

What if a civilization where shepherding was viable had an anti-sheep/goats taboo?

What if a major civilization had an anti-poultry or anti-fish taboo?


In all cases what would the knock-ons be for ecology, demography, the economy and society?
 
I can see maybe no introduction of pig to some area? Well with industrialization it will not change very much apart some species survive more and that.

Edit: After think about it while ecological impact will be same after industrialization with some exception the social impact will huge drinking in pub is social affair in some circle maybe it will change to some other thing. That just little thing other maybe symbol of luck, some word to something, And way of life in some area or maybe doing something that never been doing before. For china @Al-numbers pretty much gives the explanation
 
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What if China or Russia were Muslim and had an anti-pork taboo?

For China, the cuisine will be vastly changed. With a pork taboo, I'd figure most people would switch to either beef, goat or water buffalo (especially in the south) which could have interesting knock-on effects.

For one, both animals are more averse to eating waste, so there could be an alternate system of waste allocation among farmers, which could either negate some OTL diseases or cause new ones to develop. Besides that, we could see greater cultivation of land among the southern regions (water buffalo are not called living tractors for nothing!) and maybe more pastoralization the imperial periphery as more nomads seek land to feed their herds.

No pigs would definitely change a large part of Chinese culture. Symbols of luck may be changed to the new animals, and the very world for 'meat' in Mandarin would change as well (it means 'pork' IOTL). If China undergoes a religious syncretism with Islam and traditional faiths, then we could see beef and buffalo being offered as sacrifices in ancestor worship rites.
 
What if India-Pakistan was all Hindu having anti-beef but not anti-pork taboos?

Not much. India has never really had an appetite for pork.

However, the Indian subcontinent being entirely Hindu would result in a subcontinent almost unrecognizable in culture, as the POD for this is so massive.

What if India was overwhelmingly Muslim and had an anti-pork taboo but no taboo on beef?

Something like a massive equivalent of Hyderabad, in which there is a massive market for beef.
 
icky to me but what if Europeans were ok with eating insects

It wouldn't make a lot of difference, the reason Europeans doesn't eat insects, are because insects in Europe are very small, and the few exceptions are rare and relative slow breeders. In fact the few invertebrates in Europe, which are eaten in Europe like snails, cephalopods, bivalves and crustaceans are pretty much the only invertebra in Europe which have a size which make them worth the calories needed to catch or collect them.

So if you want insect eating Europeans, you need the introduction of either bigger fast breeding insects in the wild, or the domestication and introduction of bigger insect species as micro livestock to Euope.
 
It wouldn't make a lot of difference, the reason Europeans doesn't eat insects, are because insects in Europe are very small, and the few exceptions are rare and relative slow breeders. In fact the few invertebrates in Europe, which are eaten in Europe like snails, cephalopods, bivalves and crustaceans are pretty much the only invertebra in Europe which have a size which make them worth the calories needed to catch or collect them.

Not entirely. Europe has locusts large enough to eat, moth species with large, palatable caterpillars (especially noctuid moths), and most importantly cicadas which actually were eaten in antiquity (and IMO quite good).
 
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