Humans are calorically dense enough that it is no surprise that some ancient cultures engaged in cannibalism - or even more modern people in the right circumstances.(1) Yet it is also taboo. In Christopher Nolan's recent version of The Odyssey, cannibals appear twice. Because the Greeks thought that was the worst, even 2,700 years ago.
It's not just taboo for a cultural reason, humans figured out quickly that there was a science basis. They didn't have a name for prions or anything else, but they knew cannibalism could make humans ill.
A recent study laid out the nutritional benefit versus potential biological cost and found that ancient people were right. The reason is one we all understand. A human can eat chocolate but a dog cannot. Many diseases that can impact one animal don't pass as easily to other species, especially after cooking. But humans are going to be susceptible to pathogens in other humans, our bodies are already breeding grounds, and prion diseases can survive cooking, as everyone learned during the U.K. "Mad Cow" disease outbreak that got international prominence in 1988 and led to U.S. bans on their meat that were not lifted until 2020.(2)
If you are dying from starvation, cannibalism can save your life but things really get crazy if a cannibal eats another cannibal. The epidemiology goes berserk.
What made me chuckle was the clever nesting doll graphic the school provided.
In the US we call this a Russian Nesting Doll but they are in lots of countries. Are they taking a subtle shot at Russia due to the war with Ukraine? Probably not, they may have beef with Ukraine also. Carpathian Ruthenia was eastern Czechoslovakia until the end of World War II. Now it is western Ukraine.
I am not a fan of folk medicine or folklore trotted out as science but it is certainly the case here that avoiding cannibalism was not a random quirk, like me wanting to wear a tie and a pocket watch even if I am only going to Safeway. Early humans discovered it was an evolutionary landmine and one they avoided unless in extremis.
Citation: Michal Misiak and Petr Tureček, 'The cannibalistic trade-off: Why human cannibalism emerges and why taboos suppress it', Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123 (27) e2605120123, DOI:10.1073/pnas.2605120123 (2026).
NOTES:
(1) Nutjobs like Jeffrey Dahmer aside, the passengers who survived the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in 1972 is one high-profile example, as is one near my home; the Donner Party of October, 1846, who got stuck in a blizzard long before Michael Mann invented the hockey stick - which would have saved them, since blizzards never happen now.
Every so often I made a joke in the local Facebook room about a restaurant there, but the story is more complex. They were trapped due to claims about a shortcut, they literally could get get out after the snow hit. They built shelter. They tried three times during breaks in the weather to escape. The last attempt was 15 people. The departing group, later called Forlorn Hope, also resorted to cannibalism as their comrades died. Two were actually murdered; Miwok guides who refused to engage in cannibalism and left because they figured they would be next. And got shot for it. Ironically, the survivors eventually found a Miwok village where the tribe took them in, fed them, and organized a rescue party.
We never listened to the Miwok. Though they couldn't read nor write, they knew to engage in controlled burns to prevent wildfires and modern California government, all lawyers, instead ban logging, won't clear brush due to state environmental laws, won't let insurance companies charge people who move to wildfire areas higher premiums, so everyone has to pay more, and in places like Los Angeles don't have water for fire hydrants.
(2) The U.S. still has limits, though. If you are buying haggis, it is not authentic because if it doesn't have lungs, it is not Scottish cuisine.
There are recurring efforts to get the ban lifted but USDA denied a request again this year. Yet another thing people can blame on Trump.
