Food altruism and the consumption of food are examined from a sociological perspective which assumes that humans share food as inclusive fitness actors. Inclusive fitness implies the representation of an individual's genes in future generations through his own or others' offspring. The discussion includes characteristics of food sharing among kin as well as among genetically unrelated individuals. Eleven hypotheses are stated about acts of food altruism, in which one individual increases the fitness of another individual at the expense of his own fitness. The hypotheses state that (1) an individual will engage in more food altruism with a close relation than with a distant one, (2) given two persons with equal relationship with the altruist, he will share food with the one who has a higher probability of producing offspring, (3) food will be shared with a group member rather than with a group outcast, and (4) if food is stored, there will be less food altruism than if food is not stored. Examples of specific hunter-gatherer societies support the hypotheses. A concluding section explores the relationship of biology to sociology in terms of implications for social science research. (Author/AV)