You must admit though, labelling the entire gastronomic aesthetic as "taste" is almost deceptive in its ability to downplay the level to which this drives human

You must admit though, labelling the entire gastronomic aesthetic as "taste" is almost deceptive in its ability to downplay the level to which this drives human experience and motivation. You might as well say that the only reason we have sex is because it feels good, and while celibacy is a great policy for self mortification and moral self-superiority over the common man, it has about as much realistic place as a policy for how we should manage community sexual mores as does vegetarianism or veganism does in a discussion on meat. Indeed, the phrase "spice of life" makes inherent reference to the importance of taste, and I do not think a world without such as a prime accessible experience is a world most want to live in.