[blix]

For most of the pre-modern era, 'governing body' simply means a group with enough stockpiled resources, especially food, to project power. Anyone who could get in on this action tried to. Spoilage is an issue, but humans came up with many neat tricks to work around this, many of which are still used today (fermentation, for example). Anyone who didn't want to live or die soley by the whims of the local warlord during a harsh winter had to maintain their own food stockpile.

The great lie of Civ is to present this as centrally organized when for most of human history this power was very finely decentralized due to the expense of communication and logistics. But as socities become more centralized food stockpiles haven't disappeared. Many governments still maintain food stockpiles, especially poorer countries.