Food is any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol. Although many human cultures sought food items through hunting and gathering, today most cultures use farming, ranching, and fishing, with hunting, foraging and other methods of a local nature included but playing a minor role.Most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy. Many cultures have diversified their foods by means of preparation, cooking methods and manufacturing. This also includes a complex food trade which helps the cultures to economically survive by-way-of food, not just by consumption.Many cultures study the dietary analysis of food habits. While humans are omnivores, religion and social constructs such as morality often affect which foods they will consume. Food safety is also a concern with foodborne illness claiming many lives each year. In English, the substance food is often used metaphorically or figuratively, as in food for thought. More about Food ...Show New Selectionsedit Selected articleThey measure as much as 25 cm (10 inches) in some areas off the coast of Washington, but typically are under 20 cm (8 inches). They are a popular delicacy, and are the most commercially important crab in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the western states generally >.Dungeness crabs have a wide, hard shell which they must split in order to grow; this process is called ecdysis. They have five pairs of legs, which are similarly armored, the foremost pair of which ends in claws which the crab uses both as defense and to tear apart large food items. The crab uses its smaller appendages to pass the food particles into its mouth. Once inside the crab's stomach, food is further digested by the "gastric mill", a collection of tooth-like structures. Cancer magister prefers to eat clams, other crustaceans and small fish, but is also an effective scavenger. Dungeness crabs can also bury themselves completely in the sand if threatened.Males are attracted to potential mates by pheromones present in the urine of female Dungeness crabs. Upon locating an available female, the male initiates a protective pre-mating embrace that lasts for several days. In this embrace, the female is tucked underneath the male, oriented such that their abdomens touch and their heads face each other. Mating occurs only after the female has molted, and the female signals her readiness to molt by urinating on or near the antennae of the male. The female extrudes the eggs from her body several months later; however, they remain attached under her abdomen for three to five months until they hatch. Young crabs are free-swimming after hatching and go through five larval stages before reaching maturity after about ten moults or two years.edit Food news2 December: Macau casino owner Stanley Ho paid US$330,000 for a 3.3lb white truffle as part of the truffle madness.29 November: Poor diet linked to cancer, death risks for black women29 November: FDA mulls over imposing limits on salt28 November: Report: Obesity rate slows in U.S. adults28 November: Upscale restaurants see sales drop27 November: Study: Millennials OK with paying extra for alcoholic beveragesArchive...edit Selected quoteedit Selected pictureFruit on display at La Boqueria market in BarcelonaAuthor:Dungodungedit Related portalsedit