Heart of Darkness

Rick L. commented on the photo of a slaughtered pig, concluding that “I suspect we are now so removed from our hunter-gatherer past that such reactions should be considered squeamish..”

Rick: We’re removed only by culture. Kids have no problem with gory edibles until they’re trained up to Twinkies by role models who say "Eww" over tabooed food.

Food taboos vary. As I recall, Captain Cook was torn to pieces by Hawaiians who handed the parts around for the evening meal. This nettled Cook’s crew, who demanded return of the body. The Hawaiians, embarrassed by their mistake, did bring back his hands, but couldn’t find his heart – turns out two little girls found it hanging in the kitchen, assumed it was a dog’s heart, and ate it for supper.