Every region, every culture, had it's own idea of what 'food' is. What may be a delicacy in one part of the work is unthinkable to eat in another. Insects, eyeballs, various organs and such are all eaten in the world. It's all a matter of what is readily available in the area. Many Western cultures see such things as taboo to eat, simply because they are not as visually appealing as other dishes.
On a different note: Have you ever thought about how much of what you eat(regardless of culture) was ever considered to be food? Who was the first person to try eating something, and see if they lived? Or who first thought of how to prepare something for the first time, such as putting food in a vinegar/brine solution? Who first went "Huh, well I got this wine that went bad...some salt and other spices...wonder what will happen if I mix it all together and put this meat/vegetable in it and leave it there for a while..." I find such things interesting. It might be because I've devoted nearly a third of my life to food. Cooking it, eating it, learning about it.... Now I want to know what all of -you- think.
What is and is not food is determined by a part of your brain. There are people who unfortunatly do not have that part of their brain made properly. So they can't determine what is and is not food and if they arn't told could eat anything.
The determination of what is food depends mainly on personal experience and your society. Other factors, like religion, are also involved.
If you had a good time eating grass in your childhood, you would probably find that as a primary food source if you were stranded in the wild. If you lived in a small village where common flies were a delicacy fit only for kings and you came to a city dump, you would feel like a god.
Technically almost any organic compound is edible. You could live on pure carbon (graphite, non-lead pencil filler) if you really had to. But people have adapted to requiring other more complex compounds like sugars and proteins.
Who was the first person to try eating something, and see if they lived? Or who first thought of how to prepare something for the first time, such as putting food in a vinegar/brine solution? Who first went "Huh, well I got this wine that went bad...some salt and other spices...wonder what will happen if I mix it all together and put this meat/vegetable in it and leave it there for a while..."
Well, most of these devices were made by merchants so that their products won't fail. For example, milk in tea was made by sailors that after transporting tea from china, and finding out that it had rotten in the voyage.
I think food is just anything that is edible. People will eat insects and organs because that is all that is available for them. A lot of food is also found out by accident. Things like raisins and sour dough bread were invented by mistake.
Totally agree with chitown. Ever thought about how we found out about mead? Honey could be used to effectively conserve food, but in high humidity it fermented... Also I recently read an article about people preparing insects as small snacks; if you think about it it's a great idea, it has a lot of proteins and stuff and can technically be grown much easier (and with less water) than cattle. If we can adopt insects as regular aliment we wouldn't have to produce so much meat anymore.
@HahiHa But then won't they genetically alter bugs aeend give them hormones to grow bigger, just like they did with corn and cattle? Are bugs considered meat?
They have muscles. Are proteinic. So, they are kinda meat. And are a great substitute (if you get used to it, I personally would have to force me at first :P)
But then won't they genetically alter bugs aeend give them hormones to grow bigger, just like they did with corn and cattle?
Maybe.. although insects, if you have sufficient place and ressources, can be grown at a really large quantity, so instead of making insects bigger, just sell more. But there might be people, like in any situation, who take advantage of it and feed them hormones to make them bigger and sell them at a higher price. That's a risk with any commercial idea...
But then won't they genetically alter bugs aeend give them hormones to grow bigger, just like they did with corn and cattle?
Humans in our current trend, would deffo do this.
I quite like the idea of snacking on a tasty bug, until I actually think about my teeth crunching into the outside shell of a cockroach and the gooey insides seeping out into my mouth...
Technically you can eat clay/dirt and it even has some health benefits. It is eaten during pregnancies in Africa. African clay can contain phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese, and iron. According to this site (if the link works) , In a 1942 survey 25% of schoolchildren in Mississippi habitually ate dirt. According to the CDC dosen't recommend eating dirt due to the risk of diseases but they recommend that if you do eat dirt you should not eat from the surface; you should dig for deeper soil.
So I guess you can really eat anything that's not a harmful substance. You could eat dirt occasionally if you really wanted to, but you couldn't really live on it... or could you? Hmmm...
I actually thought about this the other day. I always find myself seeing a certain type of food, even one that I particularly like and wonder "Who was the first person to put this in their mouth...?"
I imagine in the first days of humans, it was mostly process of elimination. Eat something. Got sick? Don't eat what you had that day ever again. Try something else. Were you fine? Eat more of that.
The real food is free from non vegetarian stuff. If you want to eat real food, then eat fruits, vegetable, but non veg items, spoils the word food.
No that's wrong. If you don't consider meat and stuff food, easy, that's your problem. But meat most definitely is generally qualified as food, for carnivores for sure, but also for us since we are omnivorous. JsaKim has a point there, food basically qualifies everything that is edible and digestible to support us with nutrients that we need. In south America rain forest for example, some bird spiders are considered delicacies... that's something I couldn't do as someone who loves birdspiders, but it does count as food...
