Greeks were very sentimental about food. For example, they only ate meat when it was sacrificed to a god or hunted in the wild. They believed it was wrong to eat a tame or domestic animal. Therefore, meat was not a very essential part of their diet. But Greeks also had certain beliefs about vegetables. They believed that certain vegetables were cleaner than others. For example, the Pythagoreans never ate beans. Greeks  thought of the gods when they were eating as well. For example every time they drank wine, they would remember the god Dionysos, and every time they ate wheat, they would remember the goddess Demeter, or the goddess Persephone.

    Here, I would like to let you in on a very interesting detail. Dionysos is a fertility god like Persephone, but he is the god of all wet things (all fruits, especially grapes). He is thought to be wine itself, so when the Greeks drank wine, they thought that they were taking in the god Dionysos, and when they became tipsy, Dionysos had taken over their minds and hearts. In Greek, this is called "enthusiatic" (en=in, thus=god: you are taking in the god). Therefore, Greeks believed that they were not responsible for the actions they took when they were drunk, because the god Dionysos had made them take these actions. (Now, don't you wish you were an ancient Greek?)

    But, now back to the point. Farming conditions were not that great in Greece, because the soil along the coastline was infertile. So, as a solution to this, the Greeks developed irrigation methods, and a system of crop rotation. They grew olives, grapes and figs, and legumes. They also raised goats for milk and cheese. Also they used the better soil in the plains to grow wheat. Fish, seafood, and homemade wine were some delicacies. Although, meat was unpopular, as I mentioned before, it could be bought in cook shops in the larger city-states. Greeks mainly ate the Mediterranean triad: bread, wheat. and olive oil.