Food
hideFood is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol. Although many human cultures sought food items through hunting and gathering, today most cultures use farming, ranching, and fishing, with hunting, foraging and other methods of a local nature included but playing a minor role.
Most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy. Many cultures have diversified their foods by means of preparation, cooking methods and manufacturing. This also includes a complex food trade which helps the cultures to economically survive by-way-of food, not just by consumption.
Many cultures study the dietary analysis of food habits. While humans are omnivores, religion and social constructs such as morality often affect which foods they will consume. Food safety is also a concern with foodborne illness claiming many lives each year. In many languages, food is often used metaphorically or figuratively, as in "food for thought".
For more information about Food, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with food
Second Law of Thermodynamics May Explain Economic Evolution
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Terms such as the "invisible hand," laissez-faire policy, and free-market principles suggest that economic growth and decline in capitalist societies seem to be somehow self-regulated. Now, ...
Balancing protein intake, not cutting calories, may be key to long life
Dec 02, 2009 |
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Getting the correct balance of proteins in our diet may be more important for healthy ageing than reducing calories, new research funded by the Wellcome Trust and Research into Ageing suggests.
New explanation for nature's hardiest life form
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Got food poisoning? The cause might be bacterial spores, en extremely hardy survival form of bacteria, a nightmare for health care and the food industry and an enigma for scientists. Spore-forming bacteria, present almost ...
Algae may be secret weapon in climate change war
Oct 22, 2009 |
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Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum.
Study shows how substance in grapes may squeeze out diabetes
Oct 15, 2009 |
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A naturally produced molecule called resveratrol, found in the skin of red grapes, has been shown to lower insulin levels in mice when injected directly into the brain, even when the animals ate a high-fat ...
Scientists find 'Lucky Luke' of the seas
Sep 03, 2009 |
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Could you filter 100,000 cubic metres of syrup every day to find food in a concentration of two grains of rice per cubic metre?
Of girls and geeks: Environment may be why women don't like computer science
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In real estate, it's location, location, location. And when it comes to why girls and women shy away from careers in computer science, a key reason is environment, environment, environment.
Sucking Up To Survive
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Shrink a human being down to the size of an insect, and you would no longer be able to sip lemonade from a straw. The forces that hold liquid together would simply be too great to overcome at that tiny scale.
Fish with attitude: Some like it hot
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Coral reef fish can undergo a personality change in warmer water, according to an intriguing new study suggesting that climate change may make some species more aggressive.
Fish food fight: Fish don't eat trees after all, says new study
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- What constitutes fish food is a matter of debate. A high-profile study a few years ago suggested that fish get almost 50 percent of their carbon from trees and leaves, evidence for a very ...
Termite creates sustainable monoculture fungus-farming
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Food production of modern human societies is mostly based on large-scale monoculture crops, but it now appears that advanced insect societies have the same practice. Our societies took just ...
El Nino intensifies Latin America drought
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 20, 2009 |
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From a devastating food crisis in Guatemala to water cuts in Venezuela, El Nino has compounded drought damage across Latin America this year.
Study finds bees can learn differences in food's temperature
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that honeybees can discriminate between food at different temperatures, an ability that may assist bees in locating the warm, sugar-rich nectar or high-protein pollen ...
FDA questions safety of alcoholic energy drinks
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration is challenging makers of alcohol-infused energy drinks to prove their beverages are safe, citing complaints that the products can cause risky behavior and injury.
US adult smoking rate rises slightly
Nov 12, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Cigarette smoking rose slightly for the first time in almost 15 years, dashing health officials' hopes that the U.S. smoking rate had moved permanently below 20 percent.
