What We Ate, What We Became: How Food Shaped Human History

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Our Long Journey with Food

Food provides much more than fuel. Over thousands of years, it has shaped our bodies, our minds, and even our societies. The things we chose to eat or learned to grow changed how we lived and thought.

For millions of years, what we ate decided what we became. It fed our brains, rooted our homes, gave our lives flavor, shaped our cultures, and now may help shape our future.

In this article, we trace this long, curious journey, from our very first bites on this planet to our possible future menus.

The First Building Blocks: Meat and Honey And Then We Settled: Wheat, Figs and Potatoes A Zest for Life: Salt, Black Pepper and Cacao The Meals We Made, or the Meals that Made Us: Fish, Eggs and Soybeans Back to the Future: Lab Meats and Insects Key Takeaways About the Poster Sources

The First Building Blocks: Meat and Honey

About 2.6 million years ago, early humans began to eat meat. It was dense, powerful food: rich in protein, iron, vitamin B12, and the kind of energy a growing brain desperately needed. With more calories, our brains could now afford to grow larger, more demanding, and more capable.

Consuming meat may have changed the rest of our bodies too. Over time, the new diet contributed to smaller guts, saving energy that could be spent elsewhere – on thinking, learning and building the social bonds which held early human groups together.

Then we found honey. Sweet, golden, and hidden in the wild. For our ancestors, it was quick fuel, and perhaps an advantage against other species in the hard work of staying alive. With its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, honey could also help heal wounds and reduce inflammation.

Together, meat and honey became some of the first building blocks of humanity. They helped nourish the brain that would one day learn to farm, cook, share, and continue to discover the world.

And Then We Settled: Wheat, Figs and Potatoes

Illustration of wheat, figs and potatoes

After meat and honey helped nourish our growing brains, our food began to shape us in another way.

We learned to settle.

For that, we needed food we could count on. In the Levant, around 12,000 years ago, wheat became one of the first domesticated grains. It provided steady calories and a rich mix of protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Fields of wheat laid the ground for permanent villages and, eventually, whole civilizations.

11,000 years ago in Jordan, we had yet another breakthrough. Figs, possibly, became the first fruit ever cultivated by humans. We were no longer simply gathering what nature offered. We have now started to re-design nature to suit our needs.

In South America, the potato became another foundation of growing civilizations.

Domesticated about 10,000 years ago, it was hardy, filling, and unusually adaptable. Rich in carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins, it could grow in difficult conditions, be stored, and feed large communities. In the Andes, it helped sustain complex agricultural systems and societies. Much later, after reaching Europe, it contributed greatly to the population growth.

Together, wheat, figs, and potatoes helped make our meals more reliable. They gave our lives roots, stability, and helped us shape a future we wanted to live in.

A Zest for Life: Salt, Black Pepper and Cacao

Once our survival was secured, we began to wonder if there was more to life.

And there was. It was called seasoning!

Around 9,000 years ago in Sudan, we used salt to preserve fish. It kept food from spoiling, made meals safer to eat for a longer period of time, and eventually became a valuable item for trade.

Black pepper, or the “king of spices”, was already used in India around 4,000 years ago. With its pungent flavor and antimicrobial properties, it made food not only more enjoyable, but also, similarly to salt, safer to eat.

Roughly 5,400 years ago in the Amazon, we domesticated cacao trees. Cacao was valued for its healing properties, but also for its symbolic significance. In Maya and Aztec cultures, it became part of the rituals around birth, coming of age, marriage, and death.

And so, from Sudan to the Amazon, we learned to appreciate food. It not only kept us alive but brought us pleasure, health and meaning. Our lives had now acquired a little zest.

Where It All Comes Together

Poster titled "Foods That Shaped Humanity" with illustrated foods

This article is based on the in-depth research we carried out to create our Foods That Shaped Humanity Poster. It’s designed, illustrated, and printed with care to be a feast for the eyes and the mind.

The Meals We Made, or the Meals that Made Us: Fish, Eggs and Soybeans

Our bodies evolved through food, but so did our thinking. The meals we made kept making us back: feeding our brains, strengthening our bodies, and helping us become better at planning, sharing, and living together.

Fish, for example, enabled us to get healthy fats from lakes, rivers, and seas. Rich in essential fatty acids, it supported the brain and heart. In China, fish farming began around 8,000 years ago, making this vital food source more dependable.

Eggs were another nutritious miracle. After chickens were domesticated in Southeast Asia 3,500 years ago, eggs became an accessible source of protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals, all neatly packaged in one single shell.

Soybeans followed a similar path in China about 8,000 years ago. Rich in plant protein and unsaturated fats, they added nourishment and variety to our earliest diets.

With every generation, food and mind shaped one another. Better meals helped feed better brains. And better brains learned to plan, farm, share, and eventually, make the future possible.

Back to the Future: Lab Meats and Insects

Our story with food never stopped evolving. Over tens of thousands of years, humans developed new ways to prepare and protect it. From fire for cooking at least 75,000 years ago, to grinding grains, baking early breads, and fermenting beer in the ancient Near East.

Now we may be standing at another turning point.

By 2013, the first cultured meat hamburger was served in the Netherlands. It did not come from pasture or slaughter, but from cells grown in a lab. Could this be where our food journey is headed?

Or perhaps our future menus will look surprisingly old. Insects were already part of the early human diet more than two million years ago, and they are still eaten in many parts of the world today. Rich in protein, vitamins, iron, and zinc, they need far less land, water and feed than traditional livestock.

So tomorrow’s food may come from advanced, futuristic labs, or from the ancient plates where this whole journey began.

Either way, the story continues: we keep making what we eat, and what we eat keeps making us.

Key Takeaways

Meat and honey built the brain, giving early humans dense energy and vital nutrients, likely supporting brain growth, smaller guts, and stronger social bonds.
Wheat, figs, and potatoes made settlement possible, making food more reliable, helping humans stay in one place, grow communities, and develop early civilizations.
Salt, black pepper, and cacao formed the foundation of cultures and societies, making food safer, more enjoyable, and more meaningful through trades and rituals.
Fish, eggs, and soybeans made dependable nourishment, adding reliable sources of fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals to our diets, supporting both body and mind.
Lab-grown meat and insects may shape the future, revealing that our food story is still evolving, and our never-ending search for new (and old) ways to feed humanity.

A Feast For The Eyes

Photo of kitchen with framed Foods poster on the wall

We've illustrated the essential crops and foods that changed the course of civilization in our Foods That Shaped Humanity Poster. Each one is carefully researched and brought to life with the same detail you'd expect from our videos. Sized A2 (42.0 x 59.4 cm) and printed on high-quality paper, it's perfect for brightening up kitchens and cozy spaces.