The Influence of Food on Our Lives

Throughout history we see evidence of the procurement of food forming the very structure of entire societies.  Cities were not built at the peaks of mountains, in the middle of desserts, or some sort of baron wasteland.  They were built near a constant supply of water, & where the land was fertile.   The Egyptians had yearly rituals in which they prayed to the gods for a good inundation.  This was the annual flood of the rivers which brought nutrient rich water and mud into their fields.  They understood that when the inundation was good, their crops produced more bounty.  This directly impacted their population’s growth and the stability of their empire.  The Romans constructed aqueducts in order to move water.  The water was not primarily for human consumption, but to irrigate crops in regions where the water supply was not constant or nonexistent.  Indeed wars have been won and lost over food, or the supply thereof.  How many war movies have you seen in which the generals are hammering out ideas to cut the enemies supply lines.  Those supply lines consisted of food among other things.  History has shown us time and time again about the importance of food in its evolution.

On a more personal scale, we live our lives knowing that food must be readily available in order for us to not only survive, but also to thrive.  We tend to think that we will have food at a special event such as a wedding, funeral, birth, etc. However, the reverse is true.  We are having the event because of the food.  In other words, the food is the main character in the event.  To illustrate the point, consider this.  Three hundred years ago or more, weddings were held in the spring and summer.  While there are other factors for this, such as weather, the primary reason was that food is more plentiful at those times of the year.  A group of people could be fed at these times.  Where I live, in South Louisiana, we would not dream of having any sort of social function without an abundance of food to serve.  I think that most places are like this.  The jobs we have and our want to succeed is not only to buy the things we want, but to ensure the things we need.  Food is primary on that list.  We pride ourselves on the quality of the food we can buy in order to feed our families and ourselves.  You only need to look at any catered event to this.  The price of the event is directly proportional to the quality of food served and its preparation.