Evolutionary Explanations of Food Preferences

AO1: 

• evolutionary theory - suggets food prefs are adpative and can be explained by selection pressures in EEA from hunter-gatherer societies
• tf PEREFERENCE FOR HIGH CALORIE foods is adaptive - limited energy sources available so HCfood is needed fro survival and finding next meal - increased rep success  - demonstrated through modern humans - GENES - we still prefer HCfoods even though we have easy access 
• TASTE PREFERENCES - allows us to identify useful/dangerous foods eg sweetness = carbs+sugar / bitter = poison /spice = kills bacteria - spec explains hot countries - worse food spoilage
• NEOPHOBIA + TASTE AVERSION - fear of new foods + tf preference of familiar foods to unfamiliar foods + TA = learnt repsonse to food linked to sickness by time regardless if food caused it  - more likely to happen with new foods  - up to 24hrs later - survival by not getting poisoned twice 

AO2:

• SGT - Gibson + Wardle (2001) - best way to predict which fruit and veg are preferred by 4-5 yr olds was not sweetness/familiarity/proteiness but calorie density 
•       + children - innate beh AND shows evolved pref for HCFs
• SGT - chimp beh in Tanzania - after near starvation, on the troop's 1st kill the fattiest parts - brain and bone marrow - are eaten first over more easily accessible bits
•        + good parallel for EEA + good support for ev. expl as it assumes humans lived like primates now earlier in our evolution
• SGT - Seligman (1970)  - ability to learn TAs = 'bio preparedness'  - eg baby monkeys w/ snake/flower - ++ TA = adaptive to avoid poisinous foods
• WKN - some preferences not predetermined i.e. stong universal affinity for kids liking sweet/calorific but not spices - tf this cant predict adult beh as spices  = 2nd most popular flavouring  - so can be modified - nature vs nurture

AO3:

•  WKN in lots of research conlcusions based on assumptions of EEA - speculative - pseudoscientific.
• Real life Applications - TA and cancer patients
• Reductionist - ignores complex social and cultural factors e.g. advertising + no evolutionary reason for preferences for crustaceans or insects in terms os nutrition/safety.
• STL alternative theory - advertising - hot ppl eating **** food and looking happy - observ/imitat/vic reinf.  - nurture vs nature  - we do learn from friends/family/media