Food is fundamental to life. Yet, our eating habits have become incredibly complex, involving many aspects of daily life far beyond addressing simple nutritional needs. Our world is characterized by environments that promote increased consumption of unhealthy food and sedentary lifestyles; over-nutrition and obesity now surpass under-nourishment as the world’s leading food and nutrition problem. Through this multi-media exhibit, visitors will explore all aspects of the challenge that faces us in the 21st century. Big Food will begin with the neuroscience of appetite, genetics of obesity, and how food and energy are stored in the body. It will examine behavioral choice in nutrition and exercise as well as the influence of social, environmental, and cultural settings. Using an engaging multi-media and family-friendly approach, visitors will investigate our origins as hunter-gatherers; explore societal pressures such as the progressive growth of portion sizes; tackle media influences on food preferences; and consider serious health consequences that have increased the burden of chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease. The exhibit will conclude with a challenge for visitors to reflect on their role in personal and community health and the sustainability of our food system. Whether exploring an interactive timeline on the history of food, pedaling our specially-designed exercise bike or identifying popular processed foods by only its ingredients, visitors will leave with an enhanced understanding of one of the most important transformations in health and the human experience in the past century.
This film introduces the main themes of Big Food: our evolutionary history, our complex food environment, and the serious health consequences of obesity.
Visitors can play the fun game Smash Your Food to see what is in that strawberry milkshake and cheeseburger! To play Smash Your Food online (as well as other fun nutrition games) go to
Big Food: Health, Culture and the Evolution of Eating is a collaboration between the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement at the Yale School of Public Health, and the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
Presenting Sponsor: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation
Photos www.shutterstock.com
