‘Food and Agriculture’ Archives
Crop Rotation
Crop Rotation A single crop grown repeatedly on the same area of land allows the expensive back-up facilities of capital and machinery to be spread over a number of years, but does raise problems of loss of fertility or build-up of pests. This singleminded approach can be tempered by the use of a sequence of enterprises which are mutually [...]
Breakfast Cereals
Breakfast Cereals Developed in the nineteenth century as adult health foods, cereals became a multi-billion dollar American way of breakfast, especially for children, in the twentieth century Toasted and stewed grains have given way to flavored, highly sweetened convenience foods served with milk. Commercials aggressively market their tigers, [...]
Pumpkin
Pumpkin Pumpkins are fruits that are commonly grown for food. The inside is cooked and eaten or used to make breads, soups, and pies. Pumpkins are related to squashes, gourds, cucumbers, and melons. Some types of pumpkin are called squashes. Pumpkins are grown throughout North America and Europe. They grow on plants that have very long [...]
Olive
Olive Since ancient times people have grown olive trees for their fruit and the oil it contains. For the ancient Greeks an olive branch loaded with fruit was a symbol of peace. People on the Greek island of Crete grew olive trees as far back as 3500 BC. Later other countries along the Mediterranean Sea also began growing olives. Today olive [...]
Gourmet Food
Gourmet Food Since the 1960s, “gourmet” (sometimes “continental”) food has been associated with vague derivatives of classical French cuisine, using cream or wine sauces, expensive ingredients outside the northern European palate (olives, snails, pâté, wines) and elaborate presentations. As Jane and Michael Stern discuss this [...]
Foods Additives and Substitutes
Foods Additives and Substitutes Advances in food and agricultural technology have improved food safety and availability. Food technology includes techniques to preserve food and develop new products. Substances to preserve and enhance the appeal of foods are called food additives, and colorings fit into this category of additives that are [...]
Chocolate
Chocolate Americans love chocolate. They eat almost twelve pounds per person each year in products made using cocoa, baking chocolate, milk chocolate, and sweet and semi-sweet chocolate, ranking tenth among the world’s consumers of chocolate. The first chocolate factory was established in New England in 1765; names like Hershey and Mars are [...]
Comfort Food
Comfort Food Comfort food evades precise definitions and descriptions. Described by one restaurant critic as “satisfying stick-to-your-ribs fare” that echoes “simpler times,” and is “informal and ample;” others define it as food with lots of sugar, or more than fifty grams of fat. Some focus on comfort food’s emotional and [...]
Barbecue
Barbeque (barbecue, Bar-B-Q) Traditionally seen as originating in the Carolinas, and considered a cultural tradition throughout the South, a barbeque is an open-air feast of meat roasted in a red sauce over open coals, served with coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad and white bread. Factions argue the merits of beef, pork, chicken, mutton, goat [...]
Ethnic Food in America
Ethnic Food in America While assimilationist pressures have told immigrants to learn English, support American economic and political culture and give up leftist politics, animal sacrifice and political allegiances abroad, other traits have been enshrined as “acceptable” markers of ethnic difference—costumes for school pageants, religious [...]
