FOOD TECHNOLOGY

• Global migration of cultural groups has influenced the availability of food
• Use of food native to Australia
• Factors affecting what people eat


  • Where people live
  • Available income
  • Level of technology in food production and processing
  • Government policies
  • Strength of the country's economy
• Staple foods


  Foods that are commonly eaten as part of the daily diet, must be readily available to most of the population and provide a major source of energy
• Wheat


  • First cultivated around the Middle East and the Nile Valley between 15000 and 10000 BC
  • Grows best in cool, wet conditions during growing season and warm, dry conditions during ripening
  • Versatile as a food source
• Rice


  • Originated in monsoonal areas of South-East Asia, staple food since 5000 BC
  • Needs warm climate and large quantities of water to grow
• Meat and fish as staple foods


  • Animal foods that form staples today did not exist in Australia 250 years ago
  • Migrant groups have enhanced food sources
  • Coastal areas have ready access to fish and seafood
• Migrant groups in Australia have brought new foods and preparation techniques which have evolved into the Australian lifestyle
• When the early settlers came to Australia, they expected the food to be the same as their home country but were shocked by what they found
• Native spinach, native celery, native parsley, wild currants, fish and bush turkeys were added to the settlers' diets
• A government farm was established at Parramatta in 1789 to supplement rations
• Convicts were given garden allotments to start growing fruits and vegetables due to food shortages between 1788 and 1791
• In 1805 a dairy was established at Ultimo in Sydney
• Sydney fishermen began to meet at the Hospital Wharf (Circular Quay) in the early 1800s to sell their catch
• The Australian food supply today is diverse, safe, abundant, fresh and of high quality
• Before European settlement, the food supply for Australian Aborigines was both nutritious and varied
• Aborigines used clever hunting and gathering strategies/tools like canoes, fishing nets, and boomerangs
• Early European settlers initially relied on staple foods brought from their homeland but lack of availability forced investigation of native supplies
• Many governors took action to increase the local food supply, laying the foundations of the Australian food industry
• Bush food refers to the plants and animals eaten by Aborigines prior to colonisation
• The wombat berry is a vine that grows in the bush and open forest, with edible young leaves, root, and orange berries
• Technology in the food industry


  • Processes
  • Machines
  • Tools
  • Systems
  • Products
• In the 1700s, colonial settlers used simple technology like grinding wheat and salting pork, then the Industrial Revolution brought changes in the early to mid 1800s
• The economy is the framework of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services
• Major economic phases


  • High economic activity - growth and expansion
  • Low economic activity - inflation, recession or decline
  • Recovery - moving out of a recession
• Types of economy


  • Agricultural economy
  • Subsistence economy
  • Industrial economy
  • Market economy
  • Mixed economy
• Poverty


  The state or condition of basic needs for food, clothing and shelter not being met; it may be absolute or relative
• Affluence


  Great wealth and abundance
• Australia is an affluent country but many people and families experience relative poverty due to the high cost of living
• The poverty cycle can trap individuals with food insecurity and poor health
• Hunger


  The physiological need to eat food, caused by a lack of food in the body
• Appetite


  The desire or craving for food even when the body is not hungry
• Satiety


  The absence of hunger, the physiological and psychological experience of fullness
• Nutritional requirements of the human body vary between individuals and change throughout different life stages
• Appetite


  Desire for food, even when not hungry
• Satiety


  Absence of hunger, physiological and psychological experience of fullness
• Satiety


  1. Food enters gastrointestinal tract

  2. Hunger subsides

  3. Feeling of fullness

  4. Body stops eating

  5. Hunger and appetite suppressed for a few hours
• All humans have the same basic nutritional needs to enable growth, repair, regulation of life processes, and provide energy
• Nutritional requirements vary between individuals and change throughout life stages
• Factors affecting nutritional requirements


  • Age
  • Gender
  • Body size
  • Activity level
  • Physiological states