A new food-normal is evolving slowly but surely, with cultural norms of flavor, portion size, looks, and textures of foods no longer being passed down from parent to child, but rather from all-knowing food scientists. And sadly, our cultural definitions are changing to match these trends. Ever since, the line between imitation and real food has been getting more and more blurry. Lobbyists in the game were delighted when this imitation foods rule was repealed. It only seemed fair then, to know, that if you’re eating something labelled as cheese, you are in fact eating cheese, not an imitation cheese product. However food science has gotten so advanced and deceptive that it’s impossible to discern whether that cheese you’re looking at in a package matches that culturally agreed upon definition of cheese.

Vastly superior in calorie content, and more practical because of its super long shelf life.Ħ The notion was that some food are so ubiquitous, and commonplace that there is a known, common-sense cultural definition about what that food is, such as bread and cheese. The advent of rollers allowed the bran and embryo to be separated before the milling, leaving only he endosperm to b ground into flour. This too, could be solved via innovation, and refined further.

More importantly, due to the oils present, the flour would go rancid if left on the shelf too long. They added rich nutrients to the flour, but made it turn a dim yellowish color. By grinding the germ of the wheat grain, many pesky oils were contained in the flour. A streamlined source of calories pound for pound without all the fiber from the bran weighing it down. Although early stone grinding could remove the bran from the wheat seed, all other parts of the grain-the germ, the embryo, and the endosperm- were ground together. The first mills could grind the whole grain very with little finesse. Thus, flour was conceived of as a way to make this source of calories more condensed, and more shelf stable.

Humans in there infinite wisdom sought to further refine the wheat seed-to reduce it. They were easily dried, and could be traded and transported easily. Already, wheat and other grasses were a necessity for civilization to develop.

Pollan in defense of food