TABLE OF CONTENTS Cooking with Fire 4 Farming 6 Canning 8 Gas Stove 10 Breakfast Cereal 12 Pasteurization 14 Electric Refrigerator 16 Iodized Salt 18 Freeze-Drying 20 The Green Revolution 22 Flash-Freezing 24 Genetically Modified Organisms 26 Fact Sheet 28 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 About the Author 32
1 EARLY PEOPLES LEARN TO COOK WITH FIRE Scientists are not sure when early humans first cooked food The best proof was found in a cave in Israel Bits of bones were uncovered in the ashes there Flint tools were found nearby Burnt bones were discovered in other parts of the cave Experts think people living there made fires and cooked meat approximately 300,000 years ago Other sites have suggested that humans may have been using cooking fires as much as 1 million years ago Whenever it first happened learning to use fire for cooking was a huge turning point for ancient humans The heat kills harmful bacteria 4 Fire provided the earliest Fire provided the earliest cooking method cooking method cooking method
6 5 Width in feet 2 m of an ancient cooking hearth discovered in a cave in Israel Fire was used approximately 300,000 years ago in modern-day Israel Led to better health and social development FOOD SCIENCE Food scientists search for new ways to help farmers and food producers to provide safe healthful foods for all people They study which foods are best to eat and how to keep foods fresh longer They look for better ways to prepare food and how to transport food to people who need it Burnt bones and ash found in a cave in South Africa suggest that early humans may have made fires there This makes food safer to consume Cooked foods are also easier to chew and digest After they started cooking with fire humans absorbed more nutrients from what they ate This made their bodies and especially their brains work better Cooking fires served another purpose as well They were a place where early peoples gathered and socialized 5
