Today we enjoy the safest, most affordable & most abundant food supply in the history of our species.
Yet the idea that all food was somehow healthier AND tastier in the past is extremely common. It’s often thought of as a universal truth.
Why? The answer lies in evolution.⬇️
Yet the idea that all food was somehow healthier AND tastier in the past is extremely common. It’s often thought of as a universal truth.
Why? The answer lies in evolution.⬇️
Human nature seems to have a few built-in narratives that occur cross culturally.
One of them is the ‘appeal to antiquity’: The idea that a concept is valid because it correlates with past tradition.
For ex: When it comes to food we all know grandma’s cooking was best, right?
One of them is the ‘appeal to antiquity’: The idea that a concept is valid because it correlates with past tradition.
For ex: When it comes to food we all know grandma’s cooking was best, right?
In our evolutionary past this could make a lot of sense.
Wandering in the wild 1 of the few ways to know what is safe/unsafe to eat is the memory of what you ate as a kid.
These memories are enhanced by attaching positive moral labels to those foods & negative ones to others.
Wandering in the wild 1 of the few ways to know what is safe/unsafe to eat is the memory of what you ate as a kid.
These memories are enhanced by attaching positive moral labels to those foods & negative ones to others.
This is such an unquestioned part of food psychology, modern food writers will literally advise you to eat ‘nothing your great grandmother wouldn’t call food’.
But this is a flawed, and potentially dangerous message. And here’s why...
But this is a flawed, and potentially dangerous message. And here’s why...
My great grandmothers probably would have ate flour adulterated with alum and chocolate with radium with gusto.
Not to mention bacteria-ridden water & significantly more sugar and calories than we do today.
I promise you none would have eaten quinoa, avocadoes and salmon.
Not to mention bacteria-ridden water & significantly more sugar and calories than we do today.
I promise you none would have eaten quinoa, avocadoes and salmon.
Advising me to eat as my great grandparents did requires to me to eat how I *imagine* they ate. Conveniently editing out things they actually *did* eat.
(Also airbrushing out malnutrition, poisoning and starvation.)
(Also airbrushing out malnutrition, poisoning and starvation.)
You see, nostalgia and the application of moral labels to food is an inescapable part of being human.
It can even be an *enjoyable* part of our lives.
But it isn’t a useful way to understand the reality of food, which is often the exact opposite. 😁🍎🍇🍌
It can even be an *enjoyable* part of our lives.
But it isn’t a useful way to understand the reality of food, which is often the exact opposite. 😁🍎🍇🍌
