This course provides a general background introducing the history of food, food preparation and food storage/preservation. Basic knowledge about food chemistry will be presented with respect to human energy balance and metabolism, macro- and micronutrient needs and food group functions, and the diseases of nutrient deficiency and excess intake. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of diet in metabolic syndrome, the obesity epidemic in some societies, and the political and geophysical causes of famine in other contexts.