This paper will focus on the meta-theories and historical explanations for the rise in importance of food and associated experiences as symbols and media of community and identity in post-modern societies, including the surge in interest in agriculture and/or place and their interconnectedness and holistic use. Three main themes/concepts will be addressed and interwoven, so as to provide a fuller picture of the context of this research and the concept of perceptions more generally. These are: 1) Food and its increasing (symbolic) importance – why now?; 2) Agriculture, place and the authenticity conundrum; 3) The rise of experiences and events as mediators of food and agriculture. The three themes will each contain a brief and, admittedly, non-exhaustive literature review with supplementary historical descriptions, focusing, especially on the importance of perceptions in the themes explored. The three thematic areas will then be summarized and discussed.

Bacteria of the SAR11 clade constitute up to one half of all microbial cells in the oxygen-rich surface ocean. SAR11 bacteria are also abundant in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), where oxygen falls below detection and anaerobic microbes have vital roles in converting bioavailable nitrogen to N2 gas. Anaerobic metabolism has not yet been observed in SAR11, and it remains unknown how these bacteria contribute to OMZ biogeochemical cycling. Here, genomic analysis of single cells from the world's largest OMZ revealed previously uncharacterized SAR11 lineages with adaptations for life without oxygen, including genes for respiratory nitrate reductases (Nar). SAR11 nar genes were experimentally verified to encode proteins catalysing the nitrite-producing first step of denitrification and constituted ~40% of OMZ nar transcripts, with transcription peaking in the anoxic zone of maximum nitrate reduction activity. These results link SAR11 to pathways of ocean nitrogen loss, redefining the ecological niche of Earth's most abundant organismal group.