Any material that an organism consumes for nutritional support is considered food. Food is typically derived from plants, animals, or fungi and includes vital nutrients such proteins, lipids, carbs, and vitamins and minerals. An organism consumes the material, which is then absorbed by the organism's cells to supply energy, sustain life, or promote growth. Different animal species have developed distinct eating habits to meet the demands of their respective metabolisms and to occupy particular ecological niches in particular geographic settings.
Numerous other social and political issues, such as sustainability, biological diversity, economics, population expansion, water availability, and food security, are significantly impacted by the food system. International organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Resources Institute, the International Food Information Council, the International Association for Food Protection, and the World Food Programme keep an eye on food safety and security.
Food for humans can be categorised in a number of ways, based on processing methods or related content.[8] Food groupings can differ in terms of both number and makeup. The majority of systems comprise four fundamental categories—Vegetables and Fruit, Cereals and Bread, Dairy, and Meat—that delineate their source and respective nutritional roles.[9] Research on the quality of diets classify foods into whole grains, refined grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, fish, nuts, legumes, eggs, dairy products, fish, red meat, processed meat, and beverages with added sugar.[10][11][12] Nineteen food categories are used by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation: cereals, eggs, milk, fish and shellfish, meat, insects, vegetables, fruits, fats and oils, sweets and sugars, spices and condiments, drinks, foods for nutritional purposes, food additives, and composite foods.
The finely holed, golden-yellow interior is semisoft when young but after six to eight weeks softens, becoming almost, but not quite, runny. The aroma becomes increasingly pungent as the cheese ripens, and the rind becomes sticky. It should not, however, be rank or discoloured.
Considerable confusion surrounds the origin of beef Wellington. One version that seems more legend than fact attributes it to a cook for the famed duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley), the English general who defeated the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Wellington, it is said, liked food that could be eaten on the march, and the dish, with its crusty shell, is certainly portable. Another origin story has the dish simply named in Wellington’s honour, while yet another posits that the beef roast wrapped in pastry resembled a Wellington boot—the original leather kind, not the rubber boot beloved of gardeners today.
