An Edible History of Humanity

Food has played an important role in the history of the world. Only in recent times has there been such a great food surplus that people can spend their time in endeavors unrelated to food. 

Hunter/gatherers tended to live in small bands and ranged for food in a fairly large area. Some began to help encourage plants to grow. Eventually that gave way to farming. Agriculture caused significant changes all around. Many plants have been bred to the point that they need human intervention to reproduce. Farms encouraged a lifestyle fixed into one place. It also brought about public works projects, such as irrigation. With big projects and fixed location came society and rulers. Worship became intermingled, with sacrifices and offerings to deities and rulers to help ensure food production.

Corn, rice and wheat were some of the primary domesticated staple grains. 

Societies rose and fell in part due to food. The age of exploration was initiated to help obtain spices. Interestingly, peppers in the new world were found to be a great spice. However, they were not as valuable since they could easily be grown other places. Napoleon failed in Russia in part because he was not able to get food supplies to his troops in the mud or find food in the land after Russians destroyed their crops.