Food during the Industrial Revolution

During the industrial revolution, food was a problem, a social status symbol, and even a right. The fancier the food, the richer people assumed that one was. People who worked in factories got very little time to eat, while people in higher social classes got all the time they needed. Most classes got food, but their meals were as basic as porridge because of money. Even good water was hard to find, because of the contamination. Higher social classes would receive fancy cakes and tea, while lower classes would be stuck eating gruel, and basic breads.

People working in factories would have little time to eat during the day. Usually, even children only had half an hour for breakfast and lunch, so their meals needed to be quick and nutritious. It was pretty much the same for adults too. They tried to pack as many carbs and protein into their meals as they could. Here are two quotes, about the short breaks, found from the factory workers during the industrial revolution:

'The hours of labour at that mill were from five in a morning till eight at night, with an interval for refreshments of thirty minutes at noon.'

'I have been in the mills at all hours and I have never in my life seen the machinery stopped at mealtimes in any of the mills…'
(Evidence given to the Factory Inquiry Commission 1833)

Like in all cultures and time periods, there were common, and uncommon foods in the industrial revolution. These were most of the foods that you could find almost anywhere during this time: mutton, bacon, potatoes, oatcakes, porridge, bread and soups, gruel - a thin soup made from oats or potatoes mixed with milk and water, apples, pears and berries depending on the season, beer – even for children, and tea.
The most uncommon foods all have a reason to be uncommon, and most of the causes involve money. The top three foods, drinks, and food groups that were very uncommon in the industrial revolution were tropical fruits, milk and other dairy products, and good water. Tropical fruits were rare because they weren’t available in most parts of the USA, and it was too expensive and not worth it to ship them in. The reason that milk and dairy products were uncommon is very simple, they were too expensive. It cost a lot for farmers to even keep their cows, so they asked for more money for their products. The issue with water was, that it was polluted. Obviously, people couldn’t drink really contaminated water, so they did their best to clean it. It was unfortunate that all of these foods were forced to be rare because of money, but, that was what people had to learn to except.
During the industrial revolutions, there were no supermarkets, or grocery stores that sold more than one thing. This meant that people would have to go to several different shops to get what they needed for their daily life. These stores mostly included greengrocers and butchers. There were also traveling milkmen, grocers, and other pedalers.

People started to go hungry duringthe revolution. The typical life expectancy at this time really depended on the country, but was around 35- 50 years. This soon became a huge problem.

As one might see, money played a huge role in the typical food in the industrial revolution. Also, people who worked in the factories of that time had very little time to eat, so they had to pack as much hearty food into their meal as possible. There was a pattern that the cheaper food was often much more common than the expensive food. People started dying much more often because they couldn’t afford necessary nutrients. Food, or lack there of, played a huge role in a typical day during the industrial revolution.   

Sources:
http://www.mylearning.org/everyday-life-in-the-industrial-revolution/p-2355/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution#Food_and_nutrition

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html

http://www.enotes.com/agriculture-since-industrial-revolution-reference/agriculture-since-industrial-revolution