An Edible History of Humanity [Paperback]

That food looms large at the crossroads of every major event in human history may seem obvious. Everybody's got to eat, right? Wars have long been fought over arable land or better hunting grounds. Innovations in food production - from fire to farming to frozen food - spur big changes in society.

Journalist and author ("A History of the World in Six Glasses") Standage takes these truisms and examines them up close, beginning with farming. Fire increased the abundance of food by making it more digestible, but farming was a mixed blessing. Yes, it allowed for increased population - predictable food supply, more babies since it was no longer necessary to carry the family from place to place - but the bigger population worked harder and was less healthy.

"Compared with farming, being a hunter-gatherer was much more fun," Standage points out. Studies of modern-day nomads show they spend less than 20 hours a week on food procurement. "If effect, hunter-gatherers work two days a week and have five-day weekends."

The farmers, with their monotonous grain diet, were also less healthy. Archaeological dental evidence shows that farmers suffered from nutritional stress and that height decreased 5 to 6 inches in both sexes in the 4,000 or so years it took for farming to take over the globe.

So why did they do it? "The short answer is that they did not realize what was happening until it was too late." It was a gradual process, in terms of the human lifetime. That climate change played a significant role seems to be the one thing most scientists agree on.

Standage looks at the evolution of cereal grains, particularly corn, and the role food played in developing centralized social hierarchies and religious rites before jumping on a few years to the craze for spices and the consequent push for exploration, conquest and empire.

In addition to the discovery of the Americas, Standage explores the Arab and Chinese roles in the spice trade, the "communications networks" of trade routes among Arabs, and the spread of Islam, which helped spur the European drive for alternate routes.

He looks at food's role in war, feeding an army - and its animals - being no small feat. The old proverb, "For want of a nail..." could as easily be "For want of a wagonload of hay..."

As the world grew smaller, through exploration, industrialization and invention, wars grew larger and more complicated. Standage homes in on Napoleon, showing how food supplies were an integral part of his ingenious planning and his eventual downfall.

The interconnectedness of seemingly distant things is a constant theme. Coal, for instance. As more land is cultivated, coal becomes cheaper than wood. Britain's plentiful supply spurs the invention of the steam engine (to pump out flooded mines) and greater prosperity, from more glass in British windows to a booming energy-gobbling textile industry. And into this cycle of consumption and expansion comes the potato, which helps fuel the cheap labor of the industrial revolution. And the consequent Irish famines.

In the modern era Standage looks at the Communist attempt at collectivism, the boon and bane of chemical fertilizer, and the Green Revolution with its fertilizer-dependent yields, Franken foods, and ecological impact.

Standage, business editor of The Economist, is particularly fascinated by the unintended, far-flung consequences of things, like the seemingly harmless pastime of growing a few stalks of einkorn to supplement the local nuts and berries.

Today's virtuous locavore gets a wake-up call too. Throughout the book Standage finds opportunities to measure the true overall cost/benefit ratio of eating local. Local greenhouse tomatoes in Britain, for instance, produce more carbon emissions than imports from Spain, even factoring in transportation.

And cooking accounts for the greatest percentage of energy in the food chain. "Whether you leave the lid on the pan when boiling your potatoes has more of an impact on the total carbon-dioxide emissions than whether they were grown locally or far away."

He also looks at efficiencies in various forms of transport, concluding, "the drive to and from a shop or market can produce more emissions, for a given weight of food, than the whole of the rest of its journey."

Standage packs a lot into less than 260 pages (including chapter notes and research sources). He focuses on largely familiar elements of history and examines them from an up-close, food specific perspective. The ripples of cause and effect provide the underlying theme.

The material is clear and well organized and Standage's prose style is conversational and engaging. Foodies and food-history buffs will be familiar with much of the material, but Standage puts his own stamp on it. This is an accessible, enjoyable book for anyone with an interest in food's role in history.

In general, I was disappointed in this book. I somehow expected, because of its title I suppose, that this would be an exhaustive history on human beings and their sustenance. It is nowhere near that comprehensive; however, it does offer some insights into our relationship with food as a species.

For example, there has been a great deal of controversy over GMOs -- genetically modified organisms. Some people worry that interfering with the genes of our food will have unknown consequences, and it might. However, selectively breeding certain species of plants is hardly modern; in fact, the author makes a good argument that this has likely been done since pre-history. He goes on to explain the impact that farming has had on human existence.

The author also discusses the effects of the spice trade, the use of maize, the Irish potato famine, and explores the oft-heard saying that "an army marches on its stomach." Toward the end of the book he talks about nitrogen and the impact of fertilizers.

All in all this felt like a grab bag of factoids about plant foods over the course of human history. Yes, there are some good points, but the book tends to be repetitive and the history rarely strays beyond what any decently educated person should know.

For two excellent references on food, try "The Oxford Companion to Food," and "On Food & Cooking." Both are wonderful books that should satisfy most anyone's curiosity about our "edible history."

Anyone who has read much history and followed current events will learn little here. For those who haven't, this is a summary of many sources in one place - hence the three stars.

This was very dryly written, but don't worry - if you miss something the first time it will reappear later. A couple of things to keep in mind: Hunter-gatherers owned few or no possessions; Food was used to pay taxes which were in turn used to pay government workers. Among many others, you will be reminded of them over and over again. Too many times I said to the author "I got it the first time!"

Restating things, if enough pages have passed, can be a good thing. Rewording some concepts to insure clarity can also be good. Standage, however, detracts from the enjoyment of the book with this practice and his habit of stating the obvious.

This was a disappointing read.