Food Definition and 290 Threads

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for an organism. Food is usually of plant, animal or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. Different species of animals have different feeding behaviours that satisfy the needs of their unique metabolisms, often evolved to fill a specific ecological niche within specific geographical contexts.
Omnivorous humans are highly adaptable and have adapted to obtain food in many different ecosystems. Historically, humans secured food through two main methods: hunting and gathering and agriculture. As agricultural technologies increased, humans settled into agriculture lifestyles with diets shaped by the agriculture opportunities in their geography. Geographic and cultural differences has led to creation of numerous cuisines and culinary arts, including a wide array of ingredients, herbs, spices, techniques, and dishes. As cultures have mixed through forces like international trade and globalization, ingredients have become more widely available beyond their geographic and cultural origins, creating a cosmopolitan exchange of different food traditions and practices.
Today, the majority of the food energy required by the ever-increasing population of the world is supplied by the industrial food industry, which produces food with intensive agriculture and distributes it through complex food processing and food distribution systems. This system of conventional agriculture relies heavily on fossil fuels, which means that the food and agricultural system is one of the major contributors to climate change, accountable for as much as 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing the carbon intensity of the food system and food waste are important mitigation measures in the global response to climate change.
The food system has significant impacts on a wide range of other social and political issues including: sustainability, biological diversity, economics, population growth, water supply, and access to food. The right to food is a human right derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), recognizing the "right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food", as well as the "fundamental right to be free from hunger". Because of these fundamental rights, food security is often a priority international policy activity; for example Sustainable Development Goal 2 "Zero hunger" is meant to eliminate hunger by 2030. Food safety and food security are monitored by international agencies like the International Association for Food Protection, World Resources Institute, World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Food Information Council, and are often subject to national regulation by institutions, like the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.

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  1. P

    Recent developments in food irradiation?

    I am find it amazing that removing some electrons from foods can preserve the food for a longer period of time. So I am just curious about some of the recent developments in food irradiation.
  2. Pengwuino

    Is a pill-based diet the future of food?

    So what do you think is the best part about eating food. Which leads to the question, if they turned food into a pill that you just swallowed for all your nutritional and "hunger" needs, would you switch to it?
  3. W

    Normalizing a PDF: f(x) = e^{ - x^2 }

    Assume I have a data set that I am trying to find a distribution that describes how the data is distributed. Assume I have found a function say f(x) = e^{ - x^2 } that describes the distribution of data. Statistics tells me that my first move in doing so is to normalize this function so that...
  4. P

    What is the term CHO in food science?

    I was reviewing a basic food science lecture slide and came across the term CHO in the middle of it on slide 26-28. But there is no explanation of what it is (what it stands for). The lecture was a basic introduction on carbohydrates. Anybody know? The information on the slides are below...
  5. F

    At what speed does the food enter the stomach

    A morsel of food with a mass of 4.2g is injected into the esophagus with an initial speed of 2.5cm/s. On the way down to the stomach, the walls of the esophagus exert an upward resistive force of 0.0027 N on the morsel. Ifthe esophagus is 20cm long, with what speed does the morsel of food enter...
  6. I

    Materials safe for food machines

    I've recently drawn up several machines that handle food. However I wanted to know if there are any materials that I should stay away from, for handling food. To clarify, I would like to go to a harware store to pick up supplies, but is it ok to run liquids or store food in pvc for example...
  7. C

    Why does my weight change after eating?

    Over these past few weeks, I've be wanting to watch my diet carefully, so I scale myself every day. I noticed that before dinner, I was 140, but after dinner, I was 143.5. Why is that? I am sure I didn't instake 3 pounds of food...
  8. T

    Is Eating Only Microwave Food Unhealthy?

    Not sure if this is the right forum for this question (maybe I need some microwave theorists instead?) , but: a friend of mine was telling me about an article she read about microwave food being unhealthy for you. Apparently, living off a diet of microwave for too long, even though you are...
  9. R

    Physics-Inspired Foods - Ideas & Examples

    Hello there, unusual question but can anyone think of some good physics related foods? for example: an apple (Newton) a pie (3.14...) Milky Way/Galaxy/Mars bars :-p you get the idea :-p
  10. JamesU

    Banning Junk Food in Schools - A Frustrating Reality

    I'm in middle school, and they just passed this gay law(or so I heard.) saying that junk food shouldn't be allowed in schools. WTF?!? It's pissing me off... :mad:
  11. I

    How Many Food Packets Did the Friends Bring on Their Camping Trip?

    [SOLVED] The Bear and the Food 5 friends go camping, and bring with them a number of packets of food. In the middle of the night, one of them wakes up, sees a hungry bear, and decides to give the bear one packet of food. He then proceeds to divide the remaining packets of food into 5 equal...
  12. Pengwuino

    Is Everything We Eat Unhealthy? Exploring the Truth Behind Modern Food

    Why is it that it seems like now a days, everything you eat is unhealthy. I mean fast food and popcorn and brownies are pretty acceptable as being unhealthy, but i swear people are saying eveyrthing from soup to tomatos to pasta and apples are bad. Whats going on? Even my professor joked about...
  13. C

    Figuring out the acidic % of a certain food

    what's the easiest way to go abouts figuring (using basic lab tools) out the acidic % of a certain type of food, especially if it's a solid not a liquid. Would you still titrate it somehow? Help! please! Thanks
  14. E

    Can Animals Recognize Objects Covered with a Plate?

    Hi all, I saw this on TV, and maybe you could try this: Put food in a bowl and show your cat/dog that there's food in that bowl (take a bowl or a small bucket). Then cover that bowl/bucket with a plate, still your dog /cat is watching what you're doing. Then look, if your dog or cat will...
  15. S

    Global Food Exporters: Japan, USA, Australia, Canada

    Which of the following countries is not one of the major exporters of food? 1. Japan 2. USA 3. Australia 4. Argentina 5. Canada I read somewhere that the U.S. was the second largest exporter and Canada followed as the third largest one. I also think that Argentina is a top exporter...
  16. T

    Food Delivery Needed: My Truck is in the Shop

    okay, my truck is in the shop today. I need some food delivered. somebody call and have some food sent over please.
  17. J

    Calculate the amount of food needed to walk a distance of 30 km

    Assuming an energy equivalent for your food of 2.1 x 107 J/kg, calculate the amount of food needed to walk a distance of 30 km at a rate of 5 km/hr? :eek:
  18. Simfish

    How long does it take from food intake to nutrient absorption

    On standardized tests, it is often advised that one should eat an energy bar during breaks to get a boost of energy. But does a person really get a boost of energy during the test? Doesn't food take several hours to digest? Also - is it the small intestines that absorb all the nutrients...
  19. Math Is Hard

    How can you get free Zoobie food?

    Free Zoobie Food! Click Here! Just stand on the x and pull the ring attached to the rope and the chef/butler will bring you delightful, delicious treats... all you want! ...X....O <-- pull this now!
  20. Ivan Seeking

    News Bush not alarmed by warning on food supply

    http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/12/05/bush_not_alarmed_by_warning_on_food_supply/ having done a lot of work in the food industry [large scale production applications] and I can certainly vouch for the danger. In fact I have commented on this fact many times while...
  21. D

    Is Genetically Modified Food Safe? Seeking Information and Opinions

    Does anyone know where I can find information on Genetically Modified Food? Preferably information that presents biological explanations such as - the pesticides react with certain cells causing damage because of... Also, I'm interested in opinions on this issue. Should we use any...
  22. P

    Help a 28 Year Old Single Guy Learn to Cook Good Food

    I am 28 year olds, male. I like sprots, music and cooking, I want to cook good food but I cant, I buy a lots of book teach me to cook good but still cant, sometimes when i went home, my neightbors usually joke tell me to marry a girl so she cook for me when i go home from work, but fact that i...
  23. kat

    News Americans involved in UN Food for oil scandal

    I've been waiting for this to begin to leak. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6214647/site/newsweek/
  24. T

    Pavlov's Dog & Psychological Connection to Food

    why do we feel good when we get our hands on some food? maybe a few scientific reasons like energy, survival, etc. but I am really wanting to know why we psycologically want food? this is in relation to the dog in Pavlov's conditioning experiments
  25. D

    Bacon Fervor: Have You Become Obsessed with a Food?

    Have any of you suddenly became fixated on a certain food? Did it go away or did your tastes just change making you like it more? I'm just curious because I've developed a fixation over a generally unhealty food, bacon. I've got the metabolism to make up for it but regardless I know it...
  26. D

    Providing people an opportunity to eat unhealthy food

    I work there and I feel a bit guilty for providing people an opportunity to eat unhealthy food. People make their own choice to eat there but still, you wouldn't taunt an alcoholic with a beer and call it moral. I'm just curious if this forum things the service provided and the charity work...
  27. arivero

    Three Little-Known Equalities in Food For TheorDev

    Three little known equalities: From Smirnov: \theta_{\mbox{sun}} + \theta_{\mbox{cabibbo}} = {\pi \over 4} From De Vries: \ln {m_\tau \over m_\mu} = \pi - {1 \over \pi} From Smirnov again: \sqrt {m_\mu \over m_\tau} \sim \sin \theta_{\mbox{Cab.} } Can anyone predict them...
  28. wasteofo2

    Can your body tell how many calories the food you're eating has?

    Today I went to an ice-cream shop and got a medium sized cup (maybe 8 oz) of "Cake Batter" ice-cream. It's very very sweet and rich, tasted just like cake batter, and before I ate half of it, I started feeling sick. I'm sure you've all had the feeling before, when you're eating something really...
  29. holly

    Can You Satisfy My Hunger with Virtual Cake and Pie?

    Guys/Gals: I'm sick of sad news. I'm worn out with having to tiptoe around so I don't step on bugs. I'm tired of pedaling miles every night to feed the Alley Kitties. I want some Virtual Cake. Good cake, with icing. I want you to make me a Cake, and do it good-heartedly. The next day, I...
  30. W

    Tang and other dehydrated food into space

    Why do our space "scientists" send Tang and other dehydrated food into space; to save weight? We take along the water needed to rehydrate the food. Where is the weight savings? In grade school we used to joke about the guy that sent an overcoat to his friend but cut off the buttons to save...
  31. Q

    Create Delicious Food Inventions - Challenge Your Pallet!

    What crazy new recipes have you come up with that very few people seem to have a sensetive enough pallet to appreciate :wink:
  32. Q

    What Are Your All-Time Favorite Things Across Categories?

    What are your favourite: 1.Food :-p 2.Colour :surprise: 3.Smell 4.Clothe :blush: 5.Weather :cool: 6.Program :smile: 7.Book :bugeye: 8.Forum :wink: 9.Misc [Add your own] :rolleyes: :zzz: :redface: :shy: :-p :confused...
  33. kat

    News Testimony Before Congress on the U.N. 'Oil for Food' Scandal

    http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA17204 I haven't searched for this on the .gov site. When I find it, I'll post that as well unless someone beats me to it. (hint hint) *snip* *snip*
  34. Evo

    Do you ever get cravings for a certain food?

    Do you ever get cravings for a certain food? A few weeks ago I HAD to have salted cashews. I ate two cans of them in a couple of days. Yesterday it was olives. I notice I tend to crave salty foods.
  35. Nim

    Are Cookies More Explosive Than Dynamite Based on Calories?

    A http://muller.lbl.gov/teaching/Physics10/chapters/1-Explosions.htm listed what I have posted below. Does it make sense to compare the calories of a chocolate chip cookie to the calories of TNT? Maybe there is more calories in TNT than 1 but not all of it can be released fast enough to be...
  36. wasteofo2

    Why does hot food taste better?

    I'm eating some chinese food now. About 2 minutes ago it was hot and tasted good, now it's just kind of warm and isn't as appealing. Why is that?
  37. wolram

    Which Lifter Bearing is Best for Food Industry Machines

    what is best,a machine we use in the food industry, cycles at 30rpm a direct drive cam opperates a lifter that travels 500mm up and down, the machine is washed down every night,there is no particulate matter. so would linear bearings or bushes be best for lifter? "lubrication is minimal"
  38. 1

    Can David Blaine survive without food for 44 days?

    You know how David Blaine is doing this stunt where he's not going to eat for the next 44 days. Well, how do you think his body will cope ? BTW i take it that this isn't a trick. http://www.channel4.com/davidblaine BBC News - David Blaine
  39. M

    Is Genetically Modified Food Ethical Despite Environmental Concerns?

    the riots at UC Davis and Sacramento convinced me it's time we brought up the issue of genetically modified food. is it right? should we tamper with nature? personally, i have no problem with it. as long as it is striped of its ability to reproduce (which could throw centruries of...
  40. Greg Bernhardt

    How Does the Body Detect and Recognize Unsafe Food?

    For lack of a better term, how does your body know why to throw up. How does it detect and recognize something that shouldn't be in the stomach? For instance, how does it's know if food has gone bad?
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