A Brief History of Food

A vision for creation of food systems that promote life and well-being

An attempt to put the role of meat in our diet and trends like imitation meat into the context of mother nature.

A look at how our food system is moving to be more globally connected while also needing to be locally based.

This installment in the series explores where we are in relationship to our modern food system.

Along with the large changes in in the food system after World War II, farming was also subject to a massive shift.

In the inimitable words of Bob Dylan, the world and especially the United States after World War II was a-changin’. After the first half-century of the 1900’s being defined by scarcity and getting by, the post-war U.S. would be defined by growth, prosperity, and a baby boom.

You most likely know someone who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. This period of time was incredibly transformative to the world we live in and, in a lot of ways, the food system and how we view food were some of the things most greatly affected.

What and how we eat has ties to our ancient ancestors, but what we commonly think of as food and cuisine is distinctly modern. Through the last few hundred years, the world has become a large mixing pot of foods, flavors, and cuisines. Urbanization and technological advancement has further transformed what we think of as food.

 As far as we know, farm dog Rhoda has not built a time machine and taken our children on improbable adventures throughout history ala Mr. Peabody and Sherman. How fun would that have been, though? Investigating all of history’s mysteries.

We are John and Sarah Gilbert, the 5th generation of Gilberts to live on, farm, and care for land in Hardin County in central Iowa. Along with John’s parents, John W. and Beverly, we operate Gibralter Farms, a name chosen by John’s grandfather when he first registered his Brown Swiss dairy cows in the early 1930’s.