A New Theory of Food Classification
Here propose an all-encompassing taxonomy of foods. I will work through each part of the taxonomy and provide examples for many apparent edge cases.
A note on formalisms. Capitalized terms are final categories. Lowercase terms are super-categories and may also be used in specific food terms.
Just Food
The first important point to establish is that the proposed taxonomy of food only encompasses edible things, to which I assign a [+edible] feature. So, in the following tweet, items in the “preparation rebel” row would not be classifiable in this taxonomy.
i am not taking questions at this time pic.twitter.com/4AiqPXbTiW
— Fiora (@FioraAeterna) November 26, 2020
Similarly, a sandwich composed of two pieces of bread with Earth in the middle (Fig. 2), would not be considered under this taxonomy because not all ingredients are edible.
meat vs. salad
Another core distinction to make is the difference between meat and salad. meats are foods that are composed of a single atomic substance. This category can be further subdivided into Meat and Bread based on the number of ingredients (see below). meat as a category encompasses any food substance that cannot be further broken down or separated. This includes:
- steak, carrot, tofu, milk
- smoothies, bisques, ice cream
Meat vs. Bread
- steak with butter