22 August/September 2019
“That wisdom has for the most
part been hijacked by academic,
corporate, and political interests,”
Provenza says. “That’s why it is so
important to re-learn how to grow
and eat wholesome plant and animal
foods and let one’s own body dictatewhat works for each of us day-to-day.
We also have to recreate cultures that
once again know how to grow and eat
wholesome foods that nourish and
satiate. In all those senses, the book
is very much aligned with ancestral
foods and diets.”
The first three sections of
Nourishment focus on food selection,
nutrition, and health. The authorBy Kathryn Goulding
As animal behaviorist Fred
Provenza shares what he’s learned
about how animals gather sustenance
in Nourishment: What Animals Can
Teach Us About Rediscovering Our
Nutritional Wisdom, he gives readers an
essential message in this busy, modern
world: listen to your body,
and to nature.
A Professor Emeritus of
Behavioral Ecology at Utah
State University, Provenza
has spent his career studying
animal behavior, including
leading an award-winning
research group that studied
livestock eating behavior and
appetite. As he writes about
his time observing the ways
animals gather food from
their environment, Provenza
describes a theme: Animals
learn to select foods that
contain the nutrients they
need most at that mealtime.
This knowledge is a trait
that humans also possess,
but it’s been muddled by
a food landscape filled
with packaged foods
and multivitamins.
Provenza argues that
palates link animals to
landscapes. A palate attuned
to a certain landscape
enables herbivores and
humans to meet their
nutrient needs and to self-
medicate. He explains how
an attuned palate evolves
from three interrelated processes:
biochemically mediated, flavor-
feedback associations whereby cells
and organ systems, including the
gut microbiome, alter preferences
for wholesome foods as a function of
needs; access to phytochemical- and
biochemical-rich foods; and learning
(in utero and in infancy) to eat
wholesome combinations of foods.uses studies
of plants,
humans, and
other animals
(even insects) to help
explain that every being is its own
individual, having been born of unique
circumstances, genes, cells,
and gut bacteria. Therefore,
each individual’s nutritional
needs vary. Not unlike a goat
or sheep that chooses a meal
based on its own individual
nutritional needs at the
time, we humans can do the
same—we just need to cut
through the societal noise
and listen to what our bodies
are telling us.
Provenza writes
beautifully, and he fills the
book with autobiographical
details of his time studying
nature’s processes. Lines
like “The mountains from
which Little River flows
stirred primal sentiments
in my soul” leave the reader
in a meditative state. It’s
clear that Provenza has a
profound appreciation for
his seven decades in this
world and all the marvels
he’s observed in that time,
and he uses the last two
sections of Nourishment
to ruminate on these
miracles—something he
hopes sparks the same
admiration for this
universe in his readers.
“Nourishment is a way to give thanks
for a moment on Earth with all of its
horrors, beauties, wonders, and deep
mysteries,” Provenza says. “The point
of the book isn’t to answer questions,
but to raise questions, and to awaken
a child-like awe and humility at
the mysteries and wonders of a visit
to Earth.”book corner
Nourishment
is a way to give
thanks for a moment
on Earth with all of
its horrors, beauties,
wonders, and deep
mysteries,...”
”