I'm one of those people who can eat the same PB&J sandwhich every day for lunch and be fine with it. My wife on the other hand really goes crazy if she doesn't get enough variety.
I can't think of an evolutionary advantage of desiring variety, it seems (although I don't know if there is any studies to the effect that it is true) typical that various fauna have a 'typical' diet that they forage for and rarely vary. Even omnivores who are able to forage on a non-seasonally variable food stock.
From an economics point of view, as a single eater, having a limited variability, allows bulk purchases to take advantage of the economics of scale and reduces landfill waste (fewer containers overall).
An evolutionary advantage: having multiple, varied food sources is a protection against one of them going extinct. If the apple snails die out, so do the apple snail kites.
Humans are indeed pretty unique in that there are so many things we can eat. It has likely helped us as a species through various natural disasters.
>I can't think of an evolutionary advantage of desiring variety
For one, you can survive better if your "non varied" sources of food die off.
Second, you get more nutrients etc (for an organism that has already needs for different nutrients like us, eating the same thing every day can even be lethal, e.g. scurvy, etc).
Owsley Stanley was a soundman for the Grateful Dead. He also had one other claim to fame… he ate nothing but meat for 47 years. Let me repeat that, he ate nothing but meat for FORTY-SEVEN YEARS. He wrote all about his diet on a low-carb forum back in 2006. He died in a car accident not too long after but his words of wisdom still live on. You can read how he came to the conclusion that the natural human diet is a totally carnivorous one. It is fascinating reading and I have read it (over 300 pages) multiple times.
It's an interesting read. I read all of it except the repetitive forum bit. I don't have anything negative to say about his conclusions, but I'd have to read more supporting evidence before accepting it as gospel.
Even if he's right, it'd be nearly impossible for most people to follow the diet, and about 90% of the world population would have to die off for everyone to follow it sustainably (not that I have any problem with that).
I can't think of an evolutionary advantage of desiring variety, it seems (although I don't know if there is any studies to the effect that it is true) typical that various fauna have a 'typical' diet that they forage for and rarely vary. Even omnivores who are able to forage on a non-seasonally variable food stock.
From an economics point of view, as a single eater, having a limited variability, allows bulk purchases to take advantage of the economics of scale and reduces landfill waste (fewer containers overall).