list of dictionaries

[aprilcrash]

Hi. I´m writing my first python program - a text adventure game. I want to have a list of possible things a dog could eat, what´s bad about them, how bad they are. So, I thought I´d do this:

badfoods = []
keys = ['Food','Problem','Imminent death']

food1 = ['alcohol', 'alcohol poisoning', 0]
food2 = ['anti-freeze', 'ethylene glycol', 1]
food3 = ['apple seeds', 'cyanogenic glycosides', 0]

There are actually around 40 foods I want to include. I know I can do this:

badfoods.append(dict(zip(keys,food1)))
badfoods.append(dict(zip(keys,food2)))

etc. Or, I could have written it another way for all 40 foods:

[{'Food':'alcohol', 'Problem':'alcohol poisoning', 'Imminent death':0},{'Food':'anti-freeze', 'Problem':'ethylene glycol', 'Imminent death':1}]

I prefer the first approach so I do not have to keep repeating the keys, but I don´t like how I have to write out append 40 times. I was wondering:

1. Are either of these approaches any good or is there a better way?

2. I also tried the stuff below, but I think it doesn´t work because I´m creating a string and it doesn´t know it´s also a variable name:

   def poplist(listname, keynames, name):
   
       listname.append(dict(zip(keynames,name)))
   
   
   def main():
       badfoods = []
       keys = ['Food','Chemical','Imminent death']
       food1 = ['alcohol', 'alcohol poisoning', 0]
       food2 = ['anti-freeze', 'ethylene glycol', 1]
       food3 = ['apple seeds', 'cyanogenic glycosides', 0]
       food4 = ['apricot seeds', 'cyanogenic glycosides', 0]
       food5 = ['avocado', 'persin', 0]
       food6 = ['baby food', 'onion powder', 0]
   
       for i in range(5):
           name = 'food' + str(i+1)
           poplist(badfoods, keys, name)
   
       print badfoods
   
   main()
   

Help?

[TrustyTony]

Something like:

def main():
    badfoods = []
    keys = ['Food','Chemical','Imminent death']

    for food in [['alcohol', 'alcohol poisoning', 0],
                ['anti-freeze', 'ethylene glycol', 1],
                ['apple seeds', 'cyanogenic glycosides', 0],
                ['apricot seeds', 'cyanogenic glycosides', 0],
                ['avocado', 'persin', 0],
                ['baby food', 'onion powder', 0]]:
        badfoods.append(dict(zip(keys, food)))

    print badfoods

main()

?