What did our food look like hundreds of years ago? Art history may have the answers

CNN — What happens when a plant geneticist and an art historian walk into a museum together? As a representation of the convergence of the genetics and art history disciplines, the authors titled their crowdsourcing campaign “#ArtGenetics.” “This is the beauty of doing this kind of research today,” De Smet said. “Crowdsourcing tools will allow you to access a lot more data faster than we ever could by just visiting museums.” Paintings might detail more than a vegetable’s look The authors think findings about the evolution of plant foods might also illuminate where those foods emerged, how common they were and what associations existed between food consumption habits, trade routes and newly conquered lands. “If you look at a cubist work by Picasso to figure out what a pear looked like in the early 20th century, you will be disappointed,” De Smet said. “While imperfect, historical art offers additional insights into the traits that were important centuries ago.” Addressing such discrepancies is a matter of checking the reliability of the source then trusting the evidence, De Smet said.