This is Economics of Food, Population, Agriculture and the Environment

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The economics of food and its relevance to taste
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This paper portrays how food and its consequent taste has been essential to man’s survival. It focuses on how the quality and quantity of food have been necessary when feeding the global population. As the world’s population increases, agricultural production has to be increased so that food produced is sufficient for all. In this regard, technology has been relevant to achieving increased production as well as improved quality of food. Moreover, the food available has to be palatable so that consumers can enjoy eating it. Palatability of food is also essential since it enables individuals to identify themselves with distinct social classes as well as gain nutritional content that is required by the body.
The paper explains in details the food and agricultural technologies that characterized the developed countries since 1980-1960. Just like the evolution of man from ape, food has evolved from being derived from simple wild growing plants and animals to being obtained from domesticated crops and animals. The book Darwinian agriculture: how understanding evolution can improve agriculture by Denison Ford has been essential in illustrating this aspect. Granted, food obtained from wild crop varieties and that which is cooked from domesticated plants can never taste the same. The difference lies in the fact that the dawn of agriculture and consequent adaption of technology has largely transformed food varieties over time. Moreover, man's taste of food has also evolved even as he continues evolving and advancing. This has been necessary to enable him to adapt to the agricultural changes that have taken place. In the first part, the paper explains how Britain's search for food resulted in urbanization and brought about developments in the field of agriculture. The book; The Taste of Empire: How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World has been used to demonstrate the taste of food is essential to individuals. It explains how advancements were made to food varieties to bring about the current nutritional value and taste. It also includes early technological innovations in the fi...