The Origin of Food

I mentioned earlier that I received a new design project - The Origin of Food. Within the background information provided there were a few statements which really made me think:

'Pirahas consider hunger a useful way to toughen themselves. Missing a meal or two, or even going without eating for a day, is taken in stride' .. They 'are surprised by Western eating habits, especially the custom of eating three meals a day.'

This quote comes from Daniel Everett who met and lived with this tribe. It highlights the fact that different countries, cultures and societies have varying eating habits. In most Western countries we eat three meals a day, the timing of these may vary a little between country to country but on a whole we all get up and have out breakfast. Go for some lunch around mid day and tuck into a tasty tea in the evening. It never really occurred to me that it is our culture that dictates what we need and even how we live.

Growing up to eat 3 meals a day is normal within our culture, and if we never ate for an entire day it would be more likely to raise worry and concern rather than honor. So would we be able to cope living in this tribe? If we moved there, into a new culture, a new way of thinking could we adopt their habits easily? Or would we have to be born into such a way of life?

The other statement I have been thinking about is how we 'are beginning to understand the true extent of our supermarket culture as it determines what we buy, what we eat and how we live.'

The majority of the public tend to buy their weekly food shopping in large supermarkets. We purchase the products they choose to buy in. And more importantly products that meet their requirements.

I had been watching the breakfast news last weekend and they were covering a story about how much waste growers and farmers encounter because supermarkets can't sell 'ugly fruit'. For instance carrots have to be straight and cauliflowers can't be larger than 11cm! Is it just me or is this nonsense? If there are concerns about food sustainability then we shouldn't be throwing fresh produce away. The big question is tho, would we buy it if it didn't look as it should? Are we so used to food looking a certain way that we wouldn't purchase something that looks a bit odd?

If you want to read a little more on this subject go to this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7707518.stm