Craving earth : understanding pica : the urge to eat clay, starch, ice, and chalk / Sera L. Young.

New York : Columbia University Press, [2011], ©2011.

xiv, 228 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What on earth? -- A biocultural approach : a holistic way to study pica -- Medicine you can walk on -- Religious geophagy : sacredness you can swallow -- Poisons and pathogens -- Dismissal and damnation : a historical perspective on the purported causes of pica -- Pica in response to food shortage -- Pica as a micronutrient supplement -- Pica to protect and detoxify -- Putting the pica pieces together.