Food and Drink
Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates,
fats, proteins and water, that can be eaten or drunk by an
animal, including humans, for nutrition or pleasure. Items
considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or
other categories such as fungus or fermented products like
alcohol. Although many human cultures sought food items
through hunting and gathering, today most cultures use
farming, ranching, and fishing, with hunting, foraging and
other methods of a local nature included but playing a min
Most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of
cooking traditions, preferences, and practices, the study of
which is known as gastronomy. Many cultures have diversified
their foods by means of preparation, cooking methods and
manufacturing. This also includes a complex food trade which
helps the cultures to economically survive by-way-of food,
not just by consumption.
Many cultures study the dietary analysis of food habits. While
humans are omnivores, religion and social constructs such as
morality often affect which foods they will consume. Food
safety is also a concern with foodborne illness claiming many
lives each year. In many languages, food is often used metap
horically or figuratively, as in "food for thought".
Almost all foods are of plant or animal origin, although there
are some exceptions. Foods not coming from animal or plant
sources include various edible fungi, such as mushrooms. Fungi
and ambient bacteria are used in the preparation of fermented
and pickled foods such as leavened bread, alcoholic drinks,
cheese, pickles, and yogurt. Many cultures eat seaweed, a
protist, or blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) such as Spirulina.
Additionally, salt is often eaten as a flavoring or preservative,
and baking soda is used in food preparation. Both of these are
inorganic substances, as is water, an important part of human
diet.
Many plants or plant parts are eaten as food. There are around
2,000 plant species which are cultivated for food, and many
have several distinct cultivars.
Seeds of plants are a good source of food for animals, including humans
because they contain nutrients necessary for the plant's initial growth.
In fact, the majority of food consumed by human beings are seed-based
foods. Edible seeds include cereals (such as maize, wheat, and rice),
legumes (such as beans, peas, and lentils), and nuts. Oilseeds are often
pressed to produce rich oils, such as sunflower, rapeseed (including
canola oil), and sesame. One of the earliest food recipes made from
ground chickpeas is called hummus, which can be traced back to
Ancient Egypt times.
Fruits are the ripened ovaries of plants, including the seeds within. Many
plants have evolved fruits that are attractive as a food source to animals,
so that animals will eat the fruits and excrete the seeds some distance
away. Fruits, therefore, make up a significant part of the diets of most
cultures. Some botanical fruits, such as tomatoes, pumpkins and
eggplants, are eaten as vegetables. (For more information, see
list of fruits.)
Vegetables are a second type of plant matter that is commonly eaten
as food. These include root vegetables (such as potatoes and carrots),
leaf vegetables (such as spinach and lettuce), stem vegetables (such as
bamboo shoots and asparagus), and inflorescence vegetables (such as
globe artichokes and broccoli). Many herbs and spices are highly
-flavorful vegetables.
Animals can be used as food either directly, or indirectly by the products
they produce. Meat is an example of a direct product taken from an animal,
which comes from either muscle systems or from organs. Food products
produced by animals include milk produced by mammals, which in many
cultures is drunk or processed into dairy products such as cheese or butter.
In addition birds and other animals lay eggs, which are often eaten, and
bees produce honey, a popular sweetener in many cultures. Some cultures
consume blood, some in the form of blood sausage, as a thickener for
sauces, a cured salted form for times of food scarcity, and others use
blood in stews such as civet.
Food marketing brings together the producer and the consumer. It is the
chain of activities that brings food from "farm gate to plate." The
marketing of even a single food product can be a complicated process
involving many producers and companies. For example, fifty-six
companies are involved in making one can of chicken noodle soup.
These businesses include not only chicken and vegetable processors
but also the companies that transport the ingredients and those who
print labels and manufacture cans. The food marketing system is the
largest direct and indirect non-government employer in the United
States.
In the pre-modern era, the sale of surplus food took place once a week
when farmers took their wares on market day, into the local village
marketplace. Here food was sold to grocers for sale in their local shops
for purchase by local consumers. With the onset of industrialization,
and the development of the food processing industry, a wider range
of food could be sold and distributed in distant locations. Typically
early grocery shops would be counter-based shops, in which purchasers
told the shop-keeper what they wanted, so that the shop-keeper could
get it for them.
In the 20th century supermarkets were born. Supermarkets brought
with them a self service approach to shopping using shopping carts, and
were able to offer quality food at lower cost through economies of scale
and reduced staffing costs. In the latter part of the 20th century, this
has been further revolutionized by the development of vast warehouse
-sized, out-of-town supermarkets, selling a wide range of food from
around the world.
Unlike food processors, food retailing is a two-tier market in which a
small number of very large companies control a large proportion of
supermarkets. The supermarket giants wield great purchasing power
over farmers and processors, and strong influence over consumers.
Nevertheless, less than ten percent of consumer spending on food goes
to farmers, with larger percentages going to advertising, transportation,
and intermediate corporations.
