What did the “earliest humans” eat two million years ago? How has their diet evolved? What is it composed of today? What can we expect for tomorrow?

1. Press Release
September 2011
Mankind’s Relationship with Food: Past,
Present and Future
What did the “earliest humans” eat two million years ago? How has their diet
evolved? What is it composed of today? What can we expect for tomorrow?
After the monographs about children and television, the tyranny of dieting in 2010
and appetite control and disorders in 2011, the Louis Bonduelle Foundation is
continuing its exploration into eating habits. This new monograph, based on
papers by Pascal Picq (paleoanthropologist at the Collège de France), Martine
Padilla (Director of Research in Food Economics) and Serge Hercberg (Director of
Research with the Inserm, Professor of Nutrition and Coordinator of the NutriNet
Santé survey), presented at the Louis Bonduelle Foundation Conference last May
gives an overview of how food habits have evolved over the centuries.
.
This is a summary of the monograph “Mankind’s Relationship with Food: Past, Present and Future”
Full monograph available upon request
Credit: Louis Bonduelle Foundation
Press Contact
Magali Delmas
Vivactis Public Relations - Tel: + 33 1 46 67 63 44 - Email: m.delmas@vivactis-publicrelations.fr

2. The origins of the human diet
Hominids, the ancestors of the “Early Humans” fed on fruit, leaves, insects and meat. Made up
of different food types, this fructivorous/omnivorous diet, rare in mammals, came from the line
of descent of the apes of the Old World. However, it is not easy to have a varied diet, and it
requires cognitive capacities as well as cultural and technical knowledge. It was by following
the example of others that Hominids selected the right foods. Primitive tools enabled them to
have access to food with a high nutritional value such as nuts, pulses with hard pods, roots
and meat which they cut with their sharp tools.
Early humans of the Homo genus, who emerged around two million years ago, conquered
new regions and left Africa thanks to… their diet. Since they found an efficient way to procure
meat (a foodstuff available in any season and at any latitude) they no longer had to stay in
the tropical forests. What’s more, harnessing fire and mastering the art of cooking vegetables
(rather than meat, as is wrongly believed) led to the transformation of their bodies, especially
the increase in the size of their brains.
A leap in time: in a dozen parts of the world, at roughly the same time (10,000 BC), Homo
Sapiens began to settle and to cultivate plants and vegetables. The diversity of their diet was
reduced, resulting in vast natural selection. The only survivors were people capable of
digesting certain foodstuffs. And the species evolved: skeletons became less robust, and the
size of bodies and brains decreased.
Today’s Food
The Industrial Revolution in the mid 19th century radically transformed our diet and how we
eat. In less than two hundred years we saw the emergence of:
− Industrial food production. Food has become increasingly distanced from the
raw product, and is now “ready-to-eat” and high in sugar, fats, salt and preservatives
and contains less and less fibre. It is estimated that consumption of processed food has
multiplied three-or fourfold in France over the last twenty years.
− Changes in how we eat. Despite the fact that throughout the history of
mankind, meals have represented a moment of sharing and conviviality, eating has
now become far more individual and less ritualised, a phenomenon described as the
de-structuring of meals.
− A change in food habits. Certain foods such as bread and pulses have fallen
out of favour, replaced by red meat which is considered more noble. In 1900, daily
consumption of bread stood at 900 grammes per person compared with 110.5
grammes in 2010.
Our perception of food is also changing. Until recently, we ate for pleasure, but now food is
linked to aesthetic concerns and health preoccupations.
The Food of the Future
A decline in hyperconsumption, a return to raw products and cooking, more responsible
food for pleasure and conviviality and the desire to limit the environmental impact are the
trends that have been taking shape over the last few years.
What should we expect in the future? Will the return to local produce continue or will

3. globalisation get the upper hand again? No-one can say for sure, but experts envisage
various possible scenarios, one of which involves the problem of sustainable development
and responsible eating which seems to be more than just a passing fad. Nevertheless, we
should be wary of counter-intuitive realities! For example, while it is good for the
environment to eat local, in-season products, the same cannot be said for local products
that are not in season. The environmental impact of greenhouse production and the
fertilisers required is greater than the impact of transporting imported fruit and vegetables
that are in season in the place that they are grown.
But will we be able to feed tomorrow’s world? According to various analyses, the food
demand in calories could increase from 40% to 68% between 2000 and 2050. This is a
significant increase, but agronomists assure us that the Earth can feed a great many
mouths.
The fundamental question remains: how can we guarantee a fair distribution of high
quality food? By putting humanity back into tomorrow’s food.
The importance of nutritional epidemiology
Our relationship with food has changed drastically over the last fifty years and
developing countries are now faced with a genuine epidemic of illnesses such as
obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Over recent decades, nutritional
epidemiology has shed light on the links between the incidence of these pathologies
and diet. In France, the NutriNet-Santé study, which began in 2009 and aims to
involve 300,000 people, will enable us to create a gigantic database – one of the
largest in the world in the health sector – about the nutrition and health of the French
population. By means of participant follow-ups over a long period (ten years), the
study will allow for a precise examination of the relationship between food intake and
mortality and the incidence of major pathologies.

4. About the Louis-Bonduelle Foundation
Set up in October 2004, the aim of the Louis-Bonduelle Foundation
is to help to bring about a long-term change in eating habits by
putting the benefits of vegetables at the heart of its work.
The Louis Bonduelle Foundation has set itself this task, in an
international context, declaring its goal to go further than mere speechifying by giving
everyone effective, practical and often original ways of introducing vegetables into their
day-to-day lives.
Its programme is based on three main areas:
- Informing and raising awareness
- Supporting research
- Working “on the ground”.
“At the Louis-Bonduelle Foundation, we believe that, as well as providing everyone with
information, we have to provide support for people to change their eating habits”
Christophe Bonduelle, Chairman of the Louis-Bonduelle Foundation.
For further information, news and recipes, please visit
www.fondation-louisbonduelle.org