An attempt is made in this paper to describe the development of dietary consumption in Greece during the period 1957 to 2005. All dimensions of alimentary consumption patterns are examined here with a specific focus on: a) their natural characteristics (i.e. plant and animal components); b) technical features of the production process (primary, secondary and tertiary transformation processes); c) their biological and nutritious dimensions (as well as related health and safety issues); and d) socio-economic attributes of these patterns of consumption (i.e. consumption features of the different social, economic, demographic, geographic and professional layers of the population).