Introduction

Abstract

Man is a biological system and survives only by consuming other biological systems in whole or in part. His evolution through the ages has led to great variations in his cultural development in relation to the organisms he uses for food. Food habits and attitudes toward eating certain foods may become quite strong and even fixed. Some civilizations have died out, others have survived; through intellectual achievement, some societies of man have become highly developed culturally, economically, and politically, and others have not. When and wherever these developments have happened in history, needed basic food supplies have undergirded them. It is so today.