Animals: How do monkeys make toast? Animal health and history in the environmental humanities

This case study of zoo animal nutrition in the twentieth century highlights the importance of animals in the health and environmental humanities. It also shows the value of taking an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to animal history that combines traditional archival research with sociological methods. The chapter shows that zoo animal feeding has historically been influenced by anthropomorphic ideas and traditional agricultural practices, often prioritising human convenience over animal needs. The feeding of zoo animals using complete diets was the hegemonic philosophy in the twentieth century until the nutritional turn in the 1980s and 1990s ushered in a more balanced, holistic approach. The nutritional turn provided a more balanced philosophy on feeding zoo animals for their overall health and welfare. This shift towards a more holistic approach emphasised both the internal and external aspects of animal health. This chapter, overall, elucidates the complexities of human-animal relationships and animal health within health and environmental discourse.