A Movable Feast: Ten Millennia Of Food Globalization
by Kenneth F. Kiple /
2007 / English / PDF
4.3 MB Download
In the last twenty-five years alone, the range of fruits and
vegetables, even grains, that is available at most local markets
has changed dramatically. Over the last 10,000 years, that change
is almost unimaginable. This groundbreaking new work, from the
editor of the highly regarded Cambridge World History of Food,
examines the exploding global palate. It begins with the transition
from foraging to farming that got underway some 10,000 years ago in
the Fertile Crescent, then examines subsequent transitions in
Egypt, Africa south of the Sahara, China, southeast Asia, the Indus
Valley Oceanic, Europe, and the Americas. It ends with chapters on
genetically modified foods, the fast food industry, the nutritional
ailments people have suffered from, famine, the obesity epidemic,
and a look at the future on the food front. Food, at its most
basic, fuels the human body. At its most refined, food has been
elevated to a position of fine art. The path food has taken through
history is a fairly straightforward one; the space which it
occupies today could not be more fraught. This sweeping narrative
covers both ends of the spectrum, reminding us to be grateful for
and delighted in a grain of wheat, as well as making us aware of
the many questions that remain unanswered about what lies ahead.
Did you know. . .
In the last twenty-five years alone, the range of fruits and
vegetables, even grains, that is available at most local markets
has changed dramatically. Over the last 10,000 years, that change
is almost unimaginable. This groundbreaking new work, from the
editor of the highly regarded Cambridge World History of Food,
examines the exploding global palate. It begins with the transition
from foraging to farming that got underway some 10,000 years ago in
the Fertile Crescent, then examines subsequent transitions in
Egypt, Africa south of the Sahara, China, southeast Asia, the Indus
Valley Oceanic, Europe, and the Americas. It ends with chapters on
genetically modified foods, the fast food industry, the nutritional
ailments people have suffered from, famine, the obesity epidemic,
and a look at the future on the food front. Food, at its most
basic, fuels the human body. At its most refined, food has been
elevated to a position of fine art. The path food has taken through
history is a fairly straightforward one; the space which it
occupies today could not be more fraught. This sweeping narrative
covers both ends of the spectrum, reminding us to be grateful for
and delighted in a grain of wheat, as well as making us aware of
the many questions that remain unanswered about what lies ahead.
Did you know. . .
- That beans were likely an agricultural mistake?
- That beans were likely an agricultural mistake?
- That cheese making was originated in Iran over 6000 years
ago?
- That cheese making was originated in Iran over 6000 years
ago?
- That pepper was once worth its weight in gold?
- That pepper was once worth its weight in gold?
- That sugar is the world s best-selling food, surpassing even
wheat?
- That sugar is the world s best-selling food, surpassing even
wheat?
- That Winston Churchill asserted, in 1942, that tea was more
important to his troops than ammunition?
- That Winston Churchill asserted, in 1942, that tea was more
important to his troops than ammunition?
- That chili con carne is one of the earliest examples of food
globalization?
- That chili con carne is one of the earliest examples of food
globalization?
- That, by 1880, virtually every major city in America had a
Chinese restaurant?
- That, by 1880, virtually every major city in America had a
Chinese restaurant?
- That white bread was once considered too nutritious?
- That white bread was once considered too nutritious?
Kenneth Kiple reveals these facts and more within A Moveable Feast.
Kenneth Kiple reveals these facts and more within A Moveable Feast.