Food in World History

Book excerpt: Providing a comparative and comprehensive study of culinary cultures and consumption throughout the world from ancient times to present day, this book examines the globalization of food and explores the political, social and environmental implications of our changing relationship with food. Including numerous case studies from diverse societies and periods, Food in World History examines and focuses on: how food was used to forge national identities in Latin America the influence of Italian and Chinese Diaspora on the US and Latin America food culture how food was fractured along class lines in the French bourgeois restaurant culture and working class cafes the results of state intervention in food production how the impact of genetic modification and food crises has affected the relationship between consumer and product. This concise and readable survey not only presents a simple history of food and its consumption, but also provides a unique examination of world history itself.