The History and Development of Food Science

A career as a Food Scientists involves ways to improve the efficiency and safety of agricultural establishments, products, and manufacturing.

Quick Glance: They Ate What?

Ever wonder what people have eaten over the centuries? How about mollusks, horse meat, bone marrow, and millet?

Well, many of these items have been around since before 17,000 BC. Many people choose to look at “when” the food was developed or found, but it is important to note also how it has evolved and changed over time. Many times food items were eaten separately, but over time, humans developed ways to combine ingredients. They even began making items like bread and pasta by using leavening agents and natural gluten as a binding agent as early as 1100 BC. Foods are more diverse and use blended grains in more recent years. The diverse types of ingredients, baking and cooking methods, as well as preservation methods, make food possibilities endless!

Explore: Advances in the Food System

With the dawn of civilization, settlements began with the support of good agriculture systems and domesticated animals.

Settlers could grow more crops and raise more animals than necessary to feed those who tended them. Unlike earlier hunters and gatherers, people could now settle and not travel to find food. Farmers could grow grain and dry and store for later use. As transportation methods increased, merchants found grains in different countries. This allowed for trade and opened the door for building relationships with other countries and economic growth. As time goes on, so have the changes and advances in our food systems.

Development of Food Systems

The term "food system" is used frequently in discussions about nutrition, food, health, community economic development and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items. It also includes the inputs needed and outputs generated at each of these steps. A food system operates within and is influenced by social, political, economic and environmental contexts. It also requires human resources that provide labor, research and education.

Use the timeline below to learn about how the food systems have developed over time.

Back in the Day

In early years, cooking and baking would be a long and time-consuming process. In the 14^th and 15^th century, individuals were cooking in stone ovens and over open fire. The process of warming the stone over could take hours. Then, take into consideration the time to gather the wood, some hay or kindling to light the fire. Also, if cooking breads or desserts, they did not have the leavening agents we have now so it may have taken overnight to wait for the bread to rise and be ready to cook.

Watch the video below of a recreation of cooking bread in the 14^th century.

It is hard to imagine living in this era. Time consuming tasks such as cooking and cleaning must have taken most of the day! The advances over time in technology and cooking practices help us all save time in the kitchen. The focus now is on convenience and time saving practices. With these modern discoveries we can preserve nutrients, create tasty meals, and deliver healthy foods for our families to enjoy.

Food Development

Some of our most recent Food History and timelines begin early in the 1900’s. Many of the preservation and economics of the times affected what people ate.

See the presentation below to get an idea of how food has developed over time.

Challenge

So what do you know about the History and Development of Food Science? Try the challenge below to test your knowledge.

Takeaway: What Is Your Takeaway?

With changes over many centuries, humans are now in a place where most of us have access to healthy and nourishing food. The changes in the early days with transportation and canals providing the advances in science with food preservation, nutrition has always been a mainstay. The integration of different cultures and the ease of trade has allowed many of us to try foods from around the world without leaving our own country. Advances in science have also allowed for quick meal preparation and cooking times as well as convenient packaging that keeps food safe and fresh for longer periods of time. It is quite interesting to think of the advances over the last 100 years. What do you think our next 100 years will look like?

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