Rachel Laudan is a food historian and award-winning author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History, a book about the rise and fall of various culinary traditions and philosophies. She has over twenty years of dedicated research to the evolution of our food systems. She’s also an engaging speaker who helps industry professionals, students and professors, and public groups see food from a long-term and global perspective. Today, Rachel joins me to share a brief overview of what food history is all about. She shares her thoughts on various food movements and diets, how traditional foods came to be considered traditional, and why people today have better food than most kings and queens in the past. She also explains the importance of separating processed food from what is “bad food” and what she believes we should consider to be “good food.”   “One should tell food history as a series of expansions, migrations, cuisines, or systems of eating.” - Rachel Laudan       This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:    What encouraged her interest in agriculture and food history? Foods we think are traditional, but really not. Is there truth to having better sustainability in the pre-processed food era? Her thoughts on how to feed the exploding human population. Why she thinks corn is an amazing crop. Her perspective on the "Natural Food" trend. What counts as a "good" food? What is "Culinary Modernism"?   Rachel Laudan’s Words of Wisdom: We should realize how great modern food is. Average-earning populations can eat better than most kings or royalty in the past. Almost everything we eat has been transformed from its natural state. If we eat nothing but raw food, the human race will find survival difficult.   Connect with Rachel Laudan:   Rachel Laudan official website Twitter Cuisine and Empire The Food Paradise Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series   Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.   We Are a Part of a Bigger Family!    The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today.      Share the Ag-Love!    Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots!    Learn more about AgGrad by visiting:  Future of Agriculture Website AgGrad Website AgGrad on Twitter  AgGrad on Facebook  AgGrad on LinkedIn  AgGrad on Instagram