Evolution and Food Preference – an example (simplified)

How does evolution affect food preference? Here’s a simple example:

Let’s say that in a particular city in the year 1500 there is 100 people. Everybody likes ice cream and steak, but only 5 percent can really stomach the taste of rat meat and 2 of those actually like it. Then, a great famine occurs. Crops fail and livestock die. And before long, there’s nothing to eat but rats. And for the 95 people that can’t bring themselves to eat rats, well… they die.

The 5 that remain likely have some genetic component that allows them to eat, and even ENJOY the taste of rats. And when those 5 reproduce, there’s a decent chance that a number of the offspring will have a taste for rats, as well. As will their children. And that is ONE way that evolution plays a role in what one group eats.