Thread by @ClaireBerlinski

So, since the Mueller report refuses to download, I will instead summarize chapter 2 of Braudel, "Daily Bread."

Men's diets between the 15th-18th centuries consisted essentially of vegetables. (Did you know that?)

The reason: If the choices in an economy are determined solely by adding up calories, agriculture on a given area will always have the advantage over stock-raising. It fees 10-20 times as many.

The choice between cereals and meats depends on the number of people. "This is one of the great tests of material life. 'Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.'"

A journey from a culture to a civilization, or from a low-density population to a high one, involves significant changes in diet, writes Braudel. Europe had been the exception to this from the middle ages to the 17th century--this was because the countryside remained half-empty.

But this advantage declined in the 17th century: after that, no more meat.

So let us look at the plants of European civilization. (Has that report downloaded?)