WALK into any large supermarket in any Western nation and you can’t help
feeling that the world has never before seen such an abundance and variety of
foodstuffs. Aisle after aisle of multicoloured vegetables, fruit and groceries
stretch into the distance, served by an endless row of beeping checkouts.
It is a impressive sight, but it’s misleading. Abundance there certainly is,
for the Western world has never been so overfed. But variety has not increased
as much as we might think.
Strangely, as the world has grown richer, farming more intensive and
agricultural research more sophisticated, we have concentrated food…
