At Hunter & Barrel, we know one thing for sure – Humans love meat! But do you know where it all started? or why or when we began to eat meat? We have the answers and some fascinating fun facts that will make for great conversation next time you’re at our Ringwood restaurant location.
Fun Fact 1: Humans can thank meat for our large brain
You can very likely thank your ancestors’ consumption of meat for your intellect and larger brain size. This is because with increased meat consumption came protein and more substantial energy to help our brains grow. But as our brain grew, do you know what organ shrunk?
Fun Fact 2: Our stomachs then started to shrink!
That’s right, as our brains grew, our stomachs started to shrink. Our small stomach is actually a clue! A clue that we ate meat. This is because meat was relatively easy to digest, which required a less expansive digestive system. Also, as our brains grew, energy was primarily used for our brain and less in our digestive tissues. But how many years of meat-eating has it taken to get your body to where it is today?
Fun Fact 3: We started eating meat over 2 million years ago
It is a little hard to determine the exact timeframe, but it is speculated that we began eating meat around 2 million years ago. With movements into different habitats came diversity; that diversity introduced meat into the diet. At this point, we were likely eating small game and insects. So when and how did eating larger animals come about?
Fun Fact 4: Our Appetite For Meat Became Bigger
As our requirements for the nutrition sourced from meat increased, humans needed to find ways to meet this demand. We needed ways to catch larger animals with more meat! With our larger brains and improved intellect came the development of hunting tools. Evidence supporting the use of hunting tools dates back around 500,000 years ago. But how can you eat like your meat-eating ancestors?
The menu at Hunter & Barrel is steeped in the history of how our ancestors ate. The Hunter & Barrel chef travels the world, camps and creates food influenced by his natural surroundings. When eating at Hunter & Barrel, it is far from just a meal, it is an experience and we look forward to accommodating this experience at our restaurants in Perth or in our Ringwood restaurant location.
