Food from around the world

The first people lived in Africa. In time they spread out to most places in the world. Wherever they went they ate the plants and animals they found around them. What would it have been like to have lived in those times? Imagine you were one of those people and it was about time to get up in the morning.

You wake up on a bed of leaves. Over your head are some branches and leaves which you have joined together to make a shelter. You climb out of bed and run down a grassy bank to a river to wash and drink. On your way back you may grub about in the soil, find a juice root and chew it.

By now other people in your group are awake. They bathe and drink too and look for food. Someone finds a bone with pieces of meat stuck to it. They pull off the raw meat and spend some time chewing hard before swallowing it. The group divides into two to look for food. The men and older boys go hunting. The women, girls and children look for food among the plants.

You are told to join the second group and begin to join in searching for berries, seeds and roots. Some of the older women know what to find while others try all kinds of leaves and berries. Some they find have a bitter taste and they spit them out. As you search for food you come upon a bees' nest. A woman got a long branch and broke into the nest. The bees fly around but she manages to pull out some honeycomb rich in honey and everyone has a sweet-tasting picnic.

Eventually you see the men in the distance. They are calling to each other and running. A herd of deer breaks out through the bushes near you and runs away. The men appear and chase after them. Some of the men carry sticks and others carry stones. You try and follow but the deer and men are soon gone. You keep walking along following the path of broken plants that the deer and men have left behind. In a while you see the men in the distance. They have stopped running and are gathered in one place. As you approach you can see a body of a deer on the ground. Some of the men are busy cutting away the fur with sharp stones and pulling out strips of meat. They give the meat to the others, who eat it greedily. When you reach their side they give you some of the raw meat too.

When everyone has had their fill of the raw meat the rest of the deer is cut up and its meaty joints are carried back to the camp for the rest of the group. On the way back you see some fruit high above your head and climb up the tree to reach it. When you get to the fruits you pull them off their stalks and drop them to a friend. Together, you carry the fruit back to the camp. On the way your friend eats a fruit and finds some caterpillars on it. He eats them too.

Back at the camp everyone is tucking into the raw meat. The people have seen fires started by lightning but have not discovered how to make it for themselves. When they do, they will find that the meat is easier to chew and digest after roasting in the flames and it will taste better too.

As it grows dark you may go down to the river for one last drink then walk up to your shelter. You are very tired after spending all day searching for food. As you drift off to sleep on your mat of leaves, your body rests and prepares itself for another day of hard physical work.

In time, the people in Africa spread out through the rest of the world. Most of them stopped hunting animals and gathering food from plants. They began farming. They made meals from the plants and animals they reared. Some meals became favourites and are still eaten today. We call them traditional meals. They may be made with rice, maize, potatoes and bananas. Perhaps you will enjoy one tonight from the local take-away. It will be much tastier and warmer than the meals the first people ate.

Can all plants be eaten?

No. Many are poisonous. The first people found out what was safe to eat by trial and error. This means that they ate the food and, if they were not ill, they ate some more of it. This was a very dangerous way to find out about food but they had no choice. However, they soon came to know which foods were safe to eat and people shared what they knew. This meant that if a person picked up a poisonous plant they were warned by the others not to eat it.

If a fruit or a root can be eaten can the whole plant be eaten?

You can eat some plants such as celery or bean sprouts but many plants have only one part that can be eaten. The tomato is the only part of the tomato plant that is not poisonous. Sometimes a part which is edible may become inedible. For example, if potatoes were allowed to turn green, they would make you ill if you ate them.

How did people learn to make fire?

They learnt by rubbing two sticks together and placed some very dry fibres close by. The heat of friction warmed up the fibres so much that they caught fire. A second way, used later, was to strike a piece of metal on a rock called flint to make a spark. If dry fibres were close by the sparks set them alight and fire could be started.

Did early people eat anything else besides meat and plants?

Yes. They ate fish and shellfish such as shrimps, cockles and mussels.

When people settled in different places could they grow the same crops?

No. The reason for this is because the different places had different kinds of weather. For example sweet potatoes grow in warm wet weather that is found in some tropical regions while cereals such as oats and rye grow in cool damp climates that are found in Northern Europe.

Do people farm different animals in different parts of the world?

While people may grow different crops in different parts of the world they farm the same kinds of animals. These animals are cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and duck. In some parts of the world where the grazing land is poor the people farm goats and camels and in Africa they farm the African buffalo.