Chapter 1 Food Affects Life
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Food has different meanings for different people. People who are starving see food
as a means of survival. People who are proud of their culture consider traditional foods
to be part of their heritage. Members of some faiths regard certain foods as religious
symbols. People who are entertaining guests view food as a sign of hospitality.
Clearly, food does much more than meet a basic physical need. It meets emotional,
social, and psychological needs as well.
As long as people have walked the earth, they have searched for food and the
means to produce it. Efforts to improve food resources are likely to continue as long as
life exists.
The History of Food
Early people probably ate food raw. At some point, they accidentally discovered
cooked food tasted better and was easier to digest. By trial and error, they learned to
control fi re and use it to prepare food.
Eventually, these early people found they could protect themselves and secure food
more easily by living in groups. They formed tribes and began to hunt for food together.
Some hunters became herders when they discovered they could capture and
domesticate animals. People also discovered they could plant seeds to produce large
amounts of food. This discovery led to the beginning of farming. The advances of
herding and farming made the food supply much more dependable.
Global Perspective
The Migration of
Food
As civilizations
grew and devel-
oped, people began
searching for food
in distant places. By
the fi fteenth century,
Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Dutch sailors
were traveling the world in search of tea and spices.
These sailors discovered new lands as well as new
foods. Thus the search for new food sources fostered
European colonization of distant continents and the
growth of powerful empires.
European explorers introduced foods they carried
with them in the new lands to which they traveled. In
North America, Spanish explorers introduced cane
sugar and wheat. English explorers brought apples
and walnuts. The explorers also carried foods from
the lands they explored back to their homelands.
Therefore, foods that were once native to one place are
now found in many places. This type of exchange led
to an increased variety of foods throughout the world.
U.S. Apple Association
Apple pie would not be a U.S. national dish if
English explorers had not introduced apples to the
New World.