Food: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Very Short Introductions have proven to be extremely popular with general readers, as well as undergraduates and their lecturers.

In this Very Short Introduction, Prof Lord John Krebs provides a brief history of human food, from our remote ancestors 3 million years ago to the present day. By looking at the four great transitions in human food – cooking, agriculture, processing, and preservation – he considers a variety of questions, including why people like some kinds of foods and not others; how your senses contribute to flavour; the role of genetics in our likes and dislikes; and the differences in learning and culture around the world.

In turn he considers aspects of diet, nutrition, and health, and the disparity between malnutrition in some places and overconsumption in others. Finally, he considers some of the big issues – the obesity crisis, sustainable agriculture, the role of new technologies such as genetic modification of crops, and ends by posing the question: how will it be possible to feed a population of 9 billion in 2050, without destroying our natural environment?

Key Features

• Includes a brief history of human food and examines the four great transitions of food development
• Considers the various biological senses involved in food
• Looks at the reasons why people like some food and not others – including the genetic influences and role of learning and culture
• Separates myth from the fact about food safety
• Considers the reasons for the obesity epidemic and what can be done about it
• Explores the future of food security in an ever-growing worldwide population

Table of Contents

1. The Gourmet Ape
2. I like it!
3. When Food Goes Wrong
4. You are what you eat
5. Feeding the 9 billion
   
6. Further Reading
7. References

About the Series

Oxford’s Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects – from Public Health to Buddhist Ethics, Soft Matter to Classics, and Art History to Globalization. Each volume provides an authoritative and engaging assessment of a concept, field, or body of work, drawing out the central ideas, themes, and approaches. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, new insights, and enthusiasm to make often challenging topics highly readable to develop your core knowledge. With over 700 titles and many more in development, as well as regularly updated new editions, the series is constantly evolving to reflect a contemporary readership. Whatever your area of study, whatever the topic that fascinates you, the series is an indispensable and accessible guide that will enrich your understanding.

Reviews

“The Very Short Introductions range from worth reading to wonderfully appealing… Much of the pleasure to be found in them is the bedrock one of good nonfiction: facts… They appeal to us because the world is vast and strange, because everywhere we look, from the firefly flashing in the darkness to Auden’s elegy for Yeats, there is something to provoke our curiosity, some sliver of existence that we want to understand.” – New Yorker Magazine

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“I love the Very Short Introduction Series as should everyone who is interested in the history of ideas. They manage to straddle that difficult line between making the complex accessible without ever compromising on quality. The sheer range of subjects covered make the series an invaluable asset for anyone trying to understand the development of human thought. They are a must-go-to gateway for those of us keen to know more but needing a steer as to where to start.” – Claire Fox, Director, Institute of Ideas

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“Expert, concise but far from bland, Oxford’s Very Short Introductions series must rank by now as a thinking reader’s Wikipedia” – Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

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“Always invigorating” – Independent on Sunday

Author Biography

John Krebs, Principal, Jesus College, Oxford

Professor Lord John Krebs is the Principal of Jesus College Oxford. He has held positions at the University of British Columbia, University of Wales Bangor and Oxford University, where he was a Royal Society Research Professor from 1988-2005. Between 1994 and 1999 he was Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council and from 200-2005 he was the first Chairman of the UK Food Standards Agency. He is an independent cross bencher in the House of Lords, where he chairs the Science and Technology Select Committee. He also chairs the UK Climate Adaptation sub-committee and is a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation.