The historic and international context of food

In this section

Evolution of food production
History of food in Malta
Food production and world hunger

Evolution of food production

From time immemorial, rural agricultural producers have always sought to improve their techniques and methods of production, of handling and of conservation of the crops on which they depend for the survival of their families. Traditional agricultural techniques for food production are thus the result of a long process of experimentation and adaptation. After many centuries and generations they have perhaps approached a certain degree of perfection. Read more

History of food in Malta

Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the island of Malta has a long history of settlers and invaders. Each of these temporary inhabitants contributed to the local food availability or the food production methods used on our island. This not only impacted dietary patterns of the time, but is still evident in Maltese food culture many centuries later. Read more

Food production and world hunger

The world capita supply of food for direct human consumption is today much higher than what it was 30 years ago. The majority of the wealthy developed countries were prime beneficiaries of this progress and from some aspects their nutrition improved. However, this progress has bypassed a large number of less wealthy countries, so that undernutrition is high in many regions of the world. In parallel, continuous population growth has meant that any declines in the percentage of the undernourished global population did not lead to commensurate declines in the absolute numbers affected. Read more