On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 493

availabilityinethnicmarkets.Yetanother,at
theoppositeextreme,wastherediscoveryof
thetraditionalsystemoffoodproductionand
itspleasures:eatinglocallygrownfoods,
oftenforgotten“heirloom”orotherunusual
varieties,thatwereharvestedamatterof
hoursbeforehand,thensoldatfarmers’
marketsbythepeoplewhogrewthem.Allied
tothistrendwasthegrowinginterestin
“organic”foods,producedwithoutrelyingon
themodernarrayofchemicalsforcontrolling
pestsanddisease.Organicpracticesmean
differentthingstodifferentpeople,anddon’t
guaranteeeithersaferormorenutritiousfoods
—agricultureismorecomplicatedthanthat.
Buttheyrepresentanessential,prominent
alternativetoindustrialfarming,onethat
encouragesattentiontothequalityof
agriculturalproduceandthesustainabilityof
agriculturalpractices.
Thesearegoodtimesforcuriousand
adventurouseaters.Therearemanyforgotten


varietiesoffamiliarfruitsandvegetablesto
revive,andmanynewfoodstotaste.It’s
estimatedthatthereare300,000edibleplant
speciesonearth,andperhaps2,000thatare
cultivatedtosomeextent.Wehaveplentyof
exploringtodo!
PlantFoods

andHealth

Plantfoodscanprovideusallthenourishment
weneedinordertoliveandthrive.Our
primateancestorsstartedouteatinglittleelse,
andmanyculturesstilldo.Butmeatandother
animalfoodsbecameimportanttoourspecies
atitsbirth,whentheirconcentratedenergy
andproteinprobablyhelpedaccelerateour
evolution(p.119).Meatcontinuedtohavea
deepbiologicalappealforus,andinsocieties
thatcouldaffordtofeedlivestockonstaple
grainsandroots,itbecamethemostprizedof
foods.Intheindustrializedworld,meat’s