# SPAM Deadly To Polynisian People? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 3, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967 "2004-12-03T21:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/21 "2004-12-04T09:37:09Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Use some common sense! Why would Hormel spend money making a special version for the South Pacific trade, when the standard version sells so well? I certainly believe what you said about SPAM recipes, but I don’t see why it would be so improbable to you that a company would do that. Companies work hard to produce foods to fit palates, and if one market favored the product so much, targeting that market’s tastes in order to maximize profits would probably be quite sensible. It’s not as though they would be satisfied with selling “well” if they could be selling “amazingly”. At any rate, I think the genetic differences among Polynesians and the rest of us probably do exist. The separation between the Polynesians and most of the rest of the world _is_ significant. My understanding is that Polynesians at most of their sites had a significantly tougher life than most mainland hunter-gatherers (or those in the developing civilizations). Agriculture tends to be hard on most or all of the islands; some of the settled islands are simply too small and rocky to be effective for the purpose, others lack enough water; Polynesians had few domestic animals (pigs, dogs, and chickens originally; further out islands tend to have no or only one type remaining); the islands had a fairly narrow range of local life to feed on. I’m sure evolutionary pressures on the group would have been quite heavy in the food department, and the populations of the islands were small enough (though admittedly not completely separated from one another) that they could have genetically changed quite quickly. Look at the adaptations of the Inuit to their extreme environment; the Polynesians had ample reasons to develop more efficient metabolisms. And they were quite well sealed off from the rest of the world, so their traits didn’t mix into the rest of the population. But I don’t necessarily know for sure. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, makes some good cases to suggest it’s true. The major evolutionary pressure amongst the “civilized” that outbred and took over Eurasia/Africa was disease resistance, not food supply. So I imagine since “primitive” societies fell well in the face of our endemic sicknesses, then the food supply we’ve evolved to survive has been slowly following in their wake. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/22 "2004-12-04T09:41:43Z")
AS I said, is it possible that youngsters in hawaii, would gradually develop a taste prederence for these salty, fatty foods (in prference to the traditional foods)? Maybe “fast food” is indeed addictaive, like crack. I can’t imagine anyone preferring spam to some fresh broiled fish, though! Regading poi: ot is supposed to be better for you than mahed potatioes-it does not induce the hyperglycemic response of most hi-carb foods-why is thant. Does poi taste good? ---
**Author:** ![Amberlei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Amberlei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amberlei)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/23 "2004-12-04T12:33:39Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Does poi taste good? No. (Just my opinion.) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/24 "2004-12-04T13:10:31Z")
I’ve never had poi, but the taro chips from TerraChips I find quite tastey. Still mostly carbs, of course, but with an extra addition of fat on top of it. Anyhow - in days of old, islanders - like everyone else in the world - did more manual labor than they do today. That no doubt has an effect as well. As for Spam being bad - well, it’s basically pork with salt. The Hawaiians already _had_ pigs before the outside world showed up, and all the salt they could ever want available in the ocean surronding them. So Spam isn’t something new, it’s something old in a new package. But back in the old days few people, if any, ate pork or any form of meat _every day_ - in most of Polynesia the pigs were reserved for big feasts and eaten entire so folks didn’t have to worry about trying to preserve it. Canned meat allowed the daily consumption of meat, and that was probably a major factor in later health problems. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/25 "2004-12-04T17:49:23Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Does poi taste good? IMO, it dosen’t taste like much of anything. But then again, does a potato with no butter, sour cream, salt, bacon, etc. taste like much of anything? Staple carbs as eaten at the substistence level are generally not the most flavorful things in the world. To me the texture of poi was pretty offputting, too, but then I didn’t grow up with it. I really wanted to like it, though, because it’s so cooly purple. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/26 "2004-12-04T19:28:46Z")
I didn’t care for plain poi either, and plain is exactly how it was eaten. Somewhat ceremoniously, I might add, with the two-finger swirl IIRC. Also, I’ve read that when (Cook, was it?) arrived at the islands the inhabitants had one of the lowest work/rest ratios in the world. Meaning they worked fewer hours than any other people he’d encountered. They did everything communally. Which means the women did all the work. They had pigs? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/27 "2004-12-04T19:38:11Z")
I know you guys are talking about North Polynesia, but in the rest of the region, corned beef leads the pack when it comes to being the meat of choice on the feast table. Been to enough Niuean feasts to know that! Also, corned beef is a huge hit in Western Samoa and Fiji. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/28 "2004-12-04T19:54:07Z")
I assume you’re talking about canned corned beef, in those oblong cans? Hereford, I think, is one brand. Boy, if there’s one thing nastier than Spam… I like it sliced and fried, just like Spam. I prefer the kind with potatoes in it (cb hash) I eat it for breakfast with eggs and toast. No salt or fat in that stuff, huh. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/29 "2004-12-04T19:57:47Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I read once (think it was one of Paul Theroux’ books) that the people inhabiting the South Pacific islands are prone to obesity. They were quite healthy on a diet of fish, taro, and coconuts, but when they switched to western foods (including canned meats like spam), they got fat. > Anecdotally, I find this to be partially true…many of the native people of this region now suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure…and Theroux mentions that these people have developed a big apetite for spam. He recounted that young peopel would avod fresh fish, in preference for a can of spam-and that the mafg. had made up a special version for the South Pacific trade-containing MORE fa and salt than the USA version. > Is this true? Is western food deadly for these people? And, is there something to this theory (that very salty, high-fat meats are addictive)? That is what some nutritionists are claiming about fast food-that these types of foods actually cause an addiction. People of the South Seas belong to a fast/feast culture meaning that famine a fact in the subsistant lifestyle during times of drought. The native diet was limited to what they had. There were no massive stores of animal protein other than fish, chickens, pigs[small to medium sized ones, not those 100lb plus porkers] and dogs. Their diet was primarily vegetarian. Blaming spam for damaging the health of Pacific Islanders is like blaming homosexuality for damaging the health of bachelors. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967/30 "2004-12-04T20:10:09Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Blaming spam for damaging the health of Pacific Islanders is like blaming homosexuality for damaging the health of bachelors. Damn homos. It’s _their_ fault I got diabetes. Between Spam and homos, what chance does a single guy have. :eek: 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-deadly-to-polynisian-people/277967.md?page=1)