Richard Wrangham: How Cooking Makes Us Who We Are

     In this interview, Richard Wrangham discusses the discrepancies of modern homo sapiens and early apes/human ancestors. Because the author now dedicates his life to research the evolution of eating habits and cooking in particular, he makes some connections between the identity of human beings and our use of fire to cook foods.
     Although it is unclear when or why human beings adopted the practice of cooking, the author states that he believes our species started using fire about 1.9 million years ago. It is a known fact that earlier humans had different bodies- they were smaller, and had smaller brains. Wrangham attributes this to their need for energy to digest raw foods, and therefore lack of "expensive organs" such as the human brain. Cooking food makes it easier to eat and digest, and increases our caloric intake. The author makes the observation that humans travel much farther than apes, justifying our need for fast calories. The implications of cooking also created a need for social structure. Males expected women to provide food for them at all times, and in return, protected women from being harassed by other males.