A Five-Course History Of Our Modern Food System

From nomadic foragers to canned meat, our journey towards modern agriculture has demonstrated creativity and resourcefulness. But in seeking abundance, have we neglected the health of our planet? To find out, let’s look at the history of our food systems in a five-course meal.

Contrary to what the paleo diet might suggest about our ancestors' meat-rich diets, recent archaeological studies reveal that hunter-gatherer communities had more plant-forward diets than previously thought. A study of bones from two ancient burial sites in the Andes mountains of Peru—Wilamaya Patjxa (around 9,000 to 8,700 years ago) and Soro Mik'aya Patjxa (8,000 to 6,500 years ago)—found that 80% of the diet consisted of plant-based ingredients, based on the content of carbon and nitrogen in the bones.¹ 

Another major research project provided evidence of ancient hunter-gatherers in Italy and the central Balkans processing and consuming wild cereal-type grains and other edible plants. So, in addition to animal-based protein and fat, plant-based foods played an essential role in the nutrition of Europe's early inhabitants.²

Early nomadic societies survived on a variety of wild foods: foraging plants and berries, eating honey, and, when they could, hunting wild game.³ But how did we transition from foraging for berries to cultivating crops? 

We didn't experience a sudden globalisation of farming methods. Instead, food and animal domestication arose independently in five different areas of the world. Many communities embraced a mixed diet, combining hunting with early forms of agriculture. This strategy allowed them to thrive in diverse environments and adapt to changing seasons.⁴ While this blend of strategies may have been effective, there is a clear point in history where agriculture became the centre of our food system.
 

The Fertile Crescent, often called the cradle of civilisation, sits in the eastern Mediterranean and is widely regarded as the birthplace of agriculture. Experts believe agriculture emerged here around 12,000 BCE, where early farmers domesticated cereal crops like barley and wheat, transforming from nomadic societies into settled farming communities. Early farmers domesticated maize from the wild grass teosinte in South and Central America. This attention to pollination helped sustain complex civilisations like the Aztecs. Meanwhile, in Africa, tubers provided year-round sustenance and rice farming thrived along the Yellow River in China, enabling permanent settlements.⁵

Discover the importance of forgotten Indigenous crops

The transition of agriculture wasn't just about planting seeds; it came with a wave of innovations, including irrigation systems and crop rotation, laying the way for early agricultural settlements. With agriculture came a growing population, the diversification of labour, and the rise of bustling urban centers.⁴

Archaeologists still have questions about the drivers of this transition. Was it necessity or abundance that drove early humans to cultivate plants? Did cultural practices or environmental pressures play a decisive role? As our understanding evolves, one thing remains clear: agriculture wasn't a sudden discovery but a gradual evolution shaped by millennia of interaction between humans and their environment.⁶ 

The 20th century saw the global population boom. Despite Thomas Malthus's predictions of widespread famine and population reduction through war and disease, global food production demonstrated a surprising resilience and we were able to meet the growing demand.⁷ This was made possible by continuous advancements in agricultural technology and distribution networks. Railways crisscrossed continents, shipping canals facilitated trade across seas, and new machinery improved grain handling and transportation. Additionally, the introduction of refrigeration transformed the transportation of perishable goods, allowing them to travel long distances without going to waste.⁸ 

Taro and sweet potato: The global fusion

The exchange of cultivated plants occurred in three distinct waves. From around 3,000 BCE to 1,000 CE, the first wave saw ancient Polynesian seafarers transfer crops such as maize, amaranth, and peanuts between Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America. The second wave, from ~200 BCE to 1500 CE along the Silk Road, saw crops like cotton, sugarcane, and pomegranates introduced to new regions. Finally, during the third wave, from the European Colonial Period through the Industrial Revolution (circa 1500 to 1800 CE), the Columbian Exchange led to the transfer of crops like potatoes and tomatoes to Europe, albeit with initial scepticism and myths, such as the misconception that potatoes caused leprosy. It wasn't until Irish peasants adopted the crop due to difficult circumstances such as invasion, famine, and evictions from their fertile land that we embraced potatoes as a staple.⁹

Southern fried chicken or chicken adobo: A shift in culinary preferences

Before the 20th century, many nations focused on growing what they could produce locally, aiming for self-sufficiency. These supply-driven food systems were based on what was available or practical to grow, rather than on consumer preferences. In the 20th century, rising incomes in Europe and North America led to demand-driven food systems, where production adapted to meet specific consumer tastes. For example, the broiler chicken industry expanded to meet a rising demand for chicken meat. Regional preferences also varied: Americans preferred white meat, while other areas favoured dark meat or chicken feet, creating a trade in specific chicken parts based on demand in different regions.^{9, 10}

Spam fried rice and canned beef stew: War’s culinary innovations

Necessity is the mother of invention, as evidenced during World War I and II, when food shortages spurred the creation of convenient staples like wheat, sugar, fat, and meat for troops. In World War II, plastic began playing a significant role in food packaging, its production almost quadrupling and enabling effective storage and transportation solutions.¹¹ At the same time, the development of canned food technology, epitomised by Spam, a canned pork shoulder, revolutionised food preservation, becoming a beloved staple in many nations, especially in tropical regions. This era of innovation in food packaging and preservation, driven by wartime demands, laid the groundwork for modern food logistics and consumption habits.¹²

Beef jerky and nitrate-cured bacon: The harvest of chemicals

The impact of World War II extended beyond food packaging to agricultural practices. Farmers now had better access to affordable chemicals repurposed from wartime, such as nitrate, phosphorus, and potassium fertilisers. This revolutionised crop yields.

Moreover, synthetic pesticides like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), initially developed for wartime disease prevention, found new roles in crop pest management due to their efficacy and affordability. These wartime innovations reshaped agricultural production, setting the stage for modern farming practices and influencing global food systems.¹¹ Photo via Getty.

The globalisation of intensive agriculture during the 19th and 20th centuries didn’t come without its consequences. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression struck simultaneously, reflecting a cultural obsession with expansion that disrupted both the economy and the environment.¹³ 

Find out more about the conditions that led to The Dust Bowl

During the Cold War (1947-1991), tensions peaked between the US and the USSR. Meanwhile, neutral nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, newly independent from colonial rule, faced economic struggles and food shortages. At the time, there was a common phrase said by American aid experts that said: “Where hunger goes, communism follows”. To prevent potential "Red revolutions" aligning with the USSR, the US proposed a "green revolution" to boost grain production in “developing countries” and counteract starvation, aiming to diminish the appeal of communism.¹⁴ 

The Green Revolution was a key moment in our global agricultural history and helped shape what we see today. Between 1930 and 1960, American scientists developed maize and wheat varieties that could yield eight to ten times more grains when sufficient fertiliser, water, pesticides, and herbicides were applied in the farming process. 

One of the American scientists was Norman Borlaug, called the "godfather" of the Green Revolution by some. He earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his groundbreaking work in developing a highly resilient strain of wheat, because of its pivotal role in combating global hunger.¹⁵

Criticism of Borlaug's work and the Green Revolution has grown over time, focusing on negative impacts on rural farmers and the environment. After decades of intensive grain farming, soil fertility has decreased, groundwater levels have dropped, and water pollution has risen due to agrochemical use. Wheat production, despite continued reliance on synthetic fertilisers and irrigation, began to decline around 1980 by roughly 1.5% annually and is now over 20% lower than in the 1970s–80s. Additionally, wheat yield per hectare has fallen by one-third as high-yielding crops exhaust soil nutrients.¹⁶ 

Read about how the green revolution is tied to a dependence on fossil fuels

Today, our entire food chain has reached a critical point, and we need to take transformative action to improve food security. Our food production significantly contributes to climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and air, water, and soil pollution.¹⁷ At the same time, people are increasingly not getting the right nutrition - either from too few calories, or too many calories coming from the wrong types of food. And while many people struggle to access healthy food, data shows that we waste about a third of the food we produce. Moreover, recent economic and technological advancements have led to a stark decline in the farming community worldwide. In Europe, just 4.5% of the population works in agriculture.¹⁸ 

Amid these challenges, new approaches  are making agriculture more sustainable. One such approach is regenerative farming, which aims to provide food security while restoring soil health, boosting biodiversity, storing carbon, and honouring the fundamental role of farmers. Regenerative agriculture isn't an exact science, and it lacks a universal definition. Instead of being about a strict list of practises, it's about positive outcomes on the ground. It fundamentally revolves around farming practices that nurture and support natural ecosystems, while providing reasonable livelihoods for agricultural workers and producing an abundance of healthy food. This, in turn, increases resilience in our food system.

By embracing regenerative principles across the food chain, farmers can work harmoniously with nature to cultivate environmentally regenerative food.¹⁹ These solutions arise not only from innovative technologies but, more importantly, from reviving and adapting food production methods of the past, tapping into centuries of agricultural wisdom to build a more sustainable future for the global community.