Cultural Variation

Between Cultures: The Role of The Environment

If human cultures modify the natural environment, it is also true that the natural environment initially shaped, and still shapes to some extent, the culture of society. 

The Japanese diet consists largely of fish, seafood and vegetables because Japan is an archipelago and the sea provided consistent sources of food and, with one twentieth of the surface of the United States, there is no room for grazing land for raising beef cattle. Similarly, climate, soil, and geography affect cultural aspects.

The Indian cultural worship of cows is a puzzling practice to westerners. Considering the fact that a lot of Indians are food-insecure, it does not make much sense to let these cows roam around the country and treat them with deference. Why not send them to the slaughterhouse and make the meat available to people? This typically ethnocentric reasoning ignores the environmental and social reality of India.

According to Marvin Harris (1974) has demonstrated that the specific treatment of cows in India is in fact an adaptation to natural and social conditions. India is still a largely traditional agricultural country with extremely low mechanization. Cows are sources of male calves that become oxen which can be used to plough fields. Cows are also a major source of manure, a valuable resource since India does not have oil resources and suffers from a shortage of wood. Manure can be used as fertilizer and heating energy. Finally, when cows die, they are given to Untouchables (the lowest caste) who then turn the skin into leather. Untouchables are also then relieved from the prohibition of eating beef, which provides them with a source of proteins.

Should the Indians decide to ignore their prohibitions and engage in mass slaughter, they might be better off in the short term, but the long-term consequences would probably be devastating. Indeed, because the main crops are rice and wheat, based on the soil and rain patterns, mechanization of Indian agriculture is not an option. Oxen remain the most effective tool for providing power for most farmers. Considering the environmental conditions in India, it is certainly rational to maintain the practice of preserving cows.