Eager to reach a diverse readership, the authors begin with a brief overview of the origins of human subsistence. Here, they refer to studies that link the possession of a large brain with a high-energy requirement and the consumption of a diet rich in nutrients. Moving to a discussion of how humans have obtained food, the authors note the greater emphasis that many studies have placed upon hunting over gathering as an influence upon human evolution. Rejecting the view of the emergence of agriculture as an intentional domestication of crops, the authors embrace those studies that posit a co-evolution between humans and particular species of plants. The next topic pursued is the development of the modern food system, which is compared with the traditional food system in terms of production, distribution, consumption, and beliefs.
Distribution is international and access to goods and services is governed by money and markets.
Both food and choice are available to those consumers who can pay, but tension exists between those who believe in human domination of nature and those who challenge such a view. Despite the advantages offered by the modern food system, the authors deny that it represents unadulterated progress. Turning to sociological perspectives on food and eating, the authors sketch the functionalist, structuralist, and develpmental approaches to theorizing about the food system. They locate themselves among developmentalists, who lend primacy to the dynamics of social change, and further delineate their position by insisting that consumption is not limited to nutrients but rather includes gustatory experiences themselves and their associated meanings and symbols. Each individual has a nutritional career, which relates to how nutritional practices and preferences change throughout one's life.