Dr Mark Dawson has conducted extensive research into food and drink in the early modern period. In this programme, he reveals that this period saw a fundamental and irreversible evolution of the foods widely consumed by families at all levels of society.
Production and consumption of fruit and vegetables increased while soldiers began to eat potatoes during campaigns in Ireland and introduced them to agriculture in the English midlands. Meanwhile the Army’s need for portable foods lead to a widespread increase in commercial cheesemaking.
At the same time changes in religious practices and a consequent decline in the amounts of fish consumed meant that fish ponds became a more ornamental than functional element of the landscape.
Dr Dawson discusses these changes and their impact on the agricultural economy of England.
