Janet Burns, Mental Floss: 7 Foods That Have Led to War
As authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett mused in Good Omens, "civilization is 24 hours and two meals away from barbarism.” Human history is indeed filled with moments of violence that broke out because groups of people found themselves running on empty. Some scholars even argue that human warfare itself may have evolved alongside our move from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle into an agricultural one, given that any growing population (even a prehistoric one) will likely strain its available resources sooner or later.
Whether the cause of conflict was threats to a nation’s entire grain supply or simply the loss of a lone pig, these foods all ended up in the same place throughout history: smack in the middle of war.
WNU Editor: Wars over spices and salt I know about .... even the one pig story/conflict on the U.S. - Canada border is a story that did read about a long time ago (when I was thinking of living in Vancouver) .... but pastries?!?!?! On a more serious note .... bread/rice price rises and shortages are the current food commodities that can bring instability and conflict in the world today.
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