Food
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
Food is material, usually of animal or plant origin, consumed by living things to provide energy and nutrition. Liquids used for this purpose are often called drink.
Food for humans is mostly produced through farming or gardening, and includes animal and vegetable sources. Some people refuse to eat food from animal origin, like meat, eggs and products with milk in them.(see vegetarianism and veganism).
Many cultures or religions have food taboos, that means they have rules what people should not eat, or how the food has to be prepared. An example of religious food rules are the Kashrut of Judaism and the Halal of Islam, which say that pig meat cannot be eaten.
Basic foods consumed by humans are
- From animal sources:
- From plant sources:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Grains
- Seeds
- Legumes (Beans, peas, lentils, etc.)
- Herbs
- Spices
Food produced by farmers or gardeners can be transformed by industrial process (food industry). Processed food usually contains several natural ingredients, and food additives (such as preservative, antioxydants, emulsifiers, flavour enhancers...).
Food can make people sick if it is contaminated by micro-organisms, heavy metals, chemicals.
Meals, in English, are called:
- Breakfast
- Brunch
- Lunch
- High tea
- Dinner
- Supper
At home, food is prepared in the kitchen, by the cook. The cook sometimes use a cookbook. Cooking utensils are for example, casserole, pressure cooker, pot, pan.
The food can also be prepared and served in restaurant (often workers, or in the evening for entertainment) or refectory (in particular for kids in school).
The utensils used may be plate, knife, fork, chopsticks, spoon, bowl, or spork.
Food is what people or animals eat. from farms and gardens. In the modern world, a lot of food is grown on large farms by companies, processed in factories, and transported far from the place where it came from.
Most people do not grow their own food, so they have to buy food that was grown by someone else. People buy most of their food in stores, shops, or markets. But some people still grow most or all of their own food.
People may buy food and take it home to cook it, or buy food that is ready to eat from a street vendor, or in a restaurant or fast food place.
Food is still a big problem in the world today. Many people do not have enough money to buy the food that they need. Also bad weather or other problems sometimes destroys the growing food in one part of the world. When people do not have enough food, we say that they are hungry. If they do not eat enough food for a long time, they will become sick and die from starvation. In areas where many people do not have enough food, we say that there is famine there.
Food contains the nutrition that people need to be healthy. People need to eat protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals to be healthy.
If people do not eat the right foods, they can become sick. If people do not eat enough protein, they get the disease called kwashiorkor. If they do not eat enough vitamin B1 (thiamine), they get the disease called beriberi. If people eat too much food, they can become fat (also called overweight or obese). This is also bad for people's health.
