The History of Food
From hunting and gathering on the African savannas to the modern American supermarket, our essential need for food has driven human evolution, invention and progress.
The five-part docu-series digs into the science, history and societal significance of food in the daily life of mankind. The viewers’ tour guides for this gastronomical journey are a diverse group of experts including: renowned chef Joseph “JJ” Johnson (James Beard Nominee, Between Harlem & Heaven, Henry at Life Hotel); primatologist Richard Wrangham (Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human); microbiologists Dr. Erica Sonnenberg and Dr. Justin Sonnenberg (Stanford University); ecologist Dr. Robb Dunn (The Wild Life of Our Bodies); and more.
Once and for all, we find the answer to the age-old question, “what’s for dinner?”
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The Invention of Cooking
Humans have depended on fire for millennia, but do we fully understand the impact it has had on our diet? When our hunter-gatherer ancestors learned to harness this tool, it ignited a culinary and cerebral revolution believed to be one of the most important factors in our evolution.
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The Agricultural Revolution
From the first row of planted crops, the practice of agriculture rendered man's hunter-gatherer lifestyles obsolete in favor of settled life and stable food supplies. This led to a skyrocketing population and enabled humans to develop skills outside of gathering the food needed to survive.
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Fermentation, Preservation and Exploration
Just as humans have always sought food to survive, we have also sought the means to preserve that food. Right from the very moment of a kill or a harvest, food begins to break down. With preservation, we can plan for times of scarcity during times of plenty.
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The Industry of Food
Industrialization brought the second great food revolution. Over the brief span of the 20th century, agriculture underwent greater change than it had since it was first practiced some 12,000 years ago.
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The Future of Food
Industrialized and processed food has dominated the last century. Now, the question is, what's next? We go around the world to meet pioneers in urban farming, veganism, and insect protein production to find out what will be the future of food.
