The Lost Golden Age of Nutrition

 If I asked you what you thought the diets of the poor in mid-Victorian England were like, you would likely guess that it was poor, thousands starved to death, rickets, etc. So would you be surprised if I told you from about 1850 to 1880 the diets of the poor were actually pretty nutritious? More nutritious than the average Western diet today?

Well, according to a study published in 2009, the diets of the poor in this 30 year window were often healthy. But, how? 

Farming Systems

For those of us who grew up near farms, we know farmers rotate their crops, let a field rest, etc. This system was only about 100 to 150 years old in Britain by this period. This meant more farmers had adopted it and the soil was healthier than it had been and as a result, there was more grain for bread and animal feed. The increased animal feed meant farmers could keep animals in the winter which resulted in fresh meat being available throughout the year.

The highly disliked Corn Laws were also repealed in 1845. The Corn Laws were designed to protect land owners and farmers by maintaining a standard price for grain. This standard price was to ensure profits. Therefore, grains were expensive. This was disastrous for people during the 1840's depression because the price did not go down. 

Working Conditions

While the working conditions would still be considered unacceptable by today's standards, there were improvements being being made in this period. By the 1850's more trade unions and philanthropists were around and working to better both working conditions and wages.  

It is estimated the Victorian working class needed 150-200% more calories then we do today. The working classes walked to work and back home (this could equal about 10 kilometres for some workers), they worked long days on their feet, often in physically demanding jobs. Even Victorian women worked physically demanding jobs, including factories and domestic work. Many single women worked in the domestic workforce, some as live-in maids and others as daily workers. As few of these homes had a male servant, these women would also be responsible for lugging around heavy coal. Married women would often work all day then went home and had their own domestic work to do.

Railway

From the late 1830's onward, there was a lot of progress made to British railways. These expanded railways meant food made it to markets more often and in a fresher state. Increased production and transport meant lower prices for certain foods. Fresh vegetables and fruits were pouring into markets.

Life Expectancy 

When you account for infant mortality rates, the average Victorian in this period actually lived until their mid-70's.

What They Ate

This what all these other factors lead to - more availability because of farming techniques, the railway making more food available, workers having better working conditions and wages, and eating nutritious foods. So what were they eating?

Fruit

Apples were cheap and commonly available from August to May. 

Cherries were common from May to July. 

Gooseberries were common in June. 

Plums were common from July to September.

Dried fruits and candied peels were often available and could be used to sweeten foods.

And all these were organic at the time.

Looks tasty (Image Credit: Lancaster Farming)

Meat 

In this era, not having meat available was the sign of a poverty diet. The types of meat available depended on the family and their living situation. For example, joint meats (large cuts of meat like a roast or big steak) were rarely consumed as they were more expensive. Therefore, a working class family may only get it for special occasions (such as Christmas). Cooking a cut like this also depended on the cooking facilities available. Some families did not have access to a fully equipped kitchen (for the time) and would rely on access to a local bakery or community cookhouse.

Members of the working class tended to get, what we would consider, cheaper cuts of meat. Cheaper cuts that, ironically, are very nutritionally dense - shin, cheek, brains, heart, sweetbreads, liver, kidneys, and lungs.  

The most commonly consumed meat for the working class was pork. But, no matter the meat, it all came from free-range animals.

Seafood

Herring was a commonly eaten fish. It was enjoyed year round either fresh or salted/pickled. Herring was common among the poor because it was easy, and fast, to cook. Ideal after a long day at work. Other fish commonly consumed included cod, haddock, and John Dory. Additionally, people usually ate the whole fish, including the heads and roe. These fish were usually sold in the evenings (after the fisherman caught the fish) and cheaper fish (such as the broken or day old fish, eels, and shoreline shellfish) was available on Saturdays as fisherman did not go out on Saturdays or Sundays.

Dried Legumes and Nuts

Dried legumes were usually available all year and markets rotated fresh vegetables depending on what farmers had available.

Chestnuts were very common and available from September to January.

Hazelnuts were available from October to May.

Walnuts were available seasonally.

Brazil nuts were imported but were expensive. They were usually seen as a Christmas treat.

Alcohol

The alcoholic percentages of drinks was much lower in this era. A beer consumed at home usually had 1%-2% alcohol. Beer from a tavern usually had 2%-3.5% alcohol. 

Contemporary studies suggest a fifth of working class men in this period would spend about a fifth of their income on beer. In studies that assumed an average income of one to four pounds per week, that  meant these men would be having three to four pints a night based on the average cost for a beer. While this may seem like a lot, remember this beer was not as strong as beers today, where the average alcoholic percentage is 5%-7%. What this all means is, by todays measurements, these men were having one and a half to two pints of beer per day. 

While this may lead to questions of how serious the issue of alcoholism was in this period (ie. was the temperance movement even needed?), remember that these men were use to beers of this percentage whereas we are use to stronger drinks. It is hard to compare the effects on the average person, how the alcohol affected their behaviour, and how many people were over-indulging. Also, keep in mind, that this is an average, which means some men would be drinking less (or none) and some would be drinking more.

Tobacco

Pipe tobacco was available but it was not smoked on a constant basis and cigars were often for special occasions. Chewing tobacco was not common and, perhaps most importantly, cigarettes were not being produced on a mass scale.

As a result of all this, this 30 year period was a time when the working class was prospering from a nutritional stand point. Their diets may have been somewhat similar to the modern day Mediterranean Diet. 

Common Causes of Death

So if the working class was not dying of starvation as commonly as one might think, what was killing them?

• Infections with no cures - this includes pneumonia but also scarlet fever, small pox, influenza, typhoid, cholera, etc. These are often linked to poor sanitation
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Accidents at work - while working conditions did improve with trade unions, they were often still very dangerous - the Matchgirls Strike, for example, was not until 1888
• Fire - this was common among women as they cooked over an open hearth and their dresses were often made of highly flammable fabrics
• Infant/mother mortality - infection and maternal hemorrhage were always a risk
• Heart failure - this was often caused by rheumatic fever weakening the heart valves rather than a degenerative disease. While heart failure was usually not caused by coronary heart disease, there were cases of coronary heart disease during this period
• Strokes - this cause of death was usually associated with the middle and upper classes
• Cancer - it is hard to say how prevalent cancer was as they did not have modern day diagnostic technology. However, it looks like they were able to diagnosis late stage cancers

Why Did this Period End?

Colonization actually played a large factor. Wheat and grain being imported from the America's was cheaper than locally produced grain. Tin meats, cheaper then the fresh meats at market, were imported from New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina. 

While some historians have claimed these changes improved the diets of the people and their overall lives, this may not be true and when you think about it logically, the argument does have some evidence behind it. 

• imported canned meats were usually salty and fattier than the fresh cuts of meat available at the market
• cheaper sugar meant it was being used more often - such as condensed milk and fruits soaking in a sugary syrup. This increase in sugar led to teeth deterioration to the point that by 1900, it was commonly noted by doctors that people could not chew tougher vegetables and fruits
• The middle and upper classes still had access to the more expensive cuts of meats and vegetables. By 1900, these men were a full head taller than the poor
• In 1883, cigarettes were being produced on an industrial level and the price of alcohol was falling leading in increased consumption

The drop in nutrition had lasting affects: 

• the drop in nutritional foods, within two generations meant those doing physically intensive jobs were not as effective as their predecessors. For example, the men digging the sewer lines were known to be effective and could move 20 tons of earth per day (about a full dump truck). To do this, they needed to have a certain degree of health as they did not have machines to do the heavy lifting. However, two generations later, these same men (economically/socially) were rejected from the enlistment offices for the Boer War because they were undernourished. For earlier campaigns, such as the Asante (1873-74) and Zulu (1877-78) Wars, recruiters did not run into these issues.
• the population shrank. To enroll in the Infantry, men previously had to be 5 foot 6 inches. In 1883, this had to be dropped to 5 foot 3 inches. This was later reduced further to 5 feet. 
• After the Boer War, the British government set up the Committee on Physical Deterioration. While, their report did state the importance of providing lunches to working class children in schools, it also claimed the poorer people had been malnourished since the 1840's depression, completely ignoring the 30 year period where they had had access to good foods.

Whether we like it or not, foods with more nutritional value help keep our bodies healthy and can keep certain illnesses as bay and prevent others. Those who lived during this era, were even less likely to develop degenerative diseases.

Economic and agricultural booms all have their advantages and disadvantages. The idea of what is a better meat for example still affects prices today. Despite organ meats having more nutritional value, they are cheaper than the preferred cuts. 

Despite being very nutritionally dense, these cuts are not as popular in many Canadian grocery stores (Image Credit: Cleveland Clinic)

Obviously not all working class people were doing very well. They were still the poor of Victorian society and working in often dangerous conditions. One factory disaster could still destroy a family. But, what is interesting is that for such a short period of history, the improved health of this group was actually noticeable.

 

Clayton, Paul and Rowbotham, Judith. "How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died." National Library of Medicine. March 20, 2009. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph6031235 available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672390/ 

"The Pros and Cons of Eating Organ Meat." Cleveland Clinic. August 4, 2022. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/organ-meat-benefits/