Britain for most of the 20th Century did not have great food - by that I mean the kind of dishes you see in France, Italy, Spain and so on. However almost all food was cooked at home from fresh ingredients and so was relatively healthy - just highly unappealing to anyone who loves flavour, aroma, texture and appearance.
Additionally, for a good portion of her life (1939 to 1954) and Britain was living with severe rationing which resulted in most people eating a lot more vegetables and little butter, lard and sugar. There was also rationing and hardships during the Great War and the Great Depression. While bad for food lovers, it was actually quite good for health.
From the 1980s an increasing amount of the British diet became fast food, prepared meals and ultra-processed foods. These are the actively unhealthy bit of the current British diet.
Britain for most of the 20th century wasn’t even trying to home grow food any more, it came in canned from across the world as it’s a lot easier to ration and stockpile food which lasts forever, hence the reputation for awful food… It’s only comparatively recently that we’ve been rediscovering historical British food
I grew up there in the sixties. Regular ingredients came from the local market (this was before supermarkets) who typically sold regionally grown produce. We supplemented with home and allotment grown vegetables which were shared around the neighborhood. The food was great. Tinned food was quite expensive and generally considered an unhealthy novelty best used on camping trips - I’m looking at you fray bentos, you and your weird deliciousness.
Time for everyone to stop hyping up the Mediterranean diet for longevity and move over to the UK diet.
This lady has been taking bangers in the mouth for a century
Giggidy giggidy granny
Britain for most of the 20th Century did not have great food - by that I mean the kind of dishes you see in France, Italy, Spain and so on. However almost all food was cooked at home from fresh ingredients and so was relatively healthy - just highly unappealing to anyone who loves flavour, aroma, texture and appearance.
Additionally, for a good portion of her life (1939 to 1954) and Britain was living with severe rationing which resulted in most people eating a lot more vegetables and little butter, lard and sugar. There was also rationing and hardships during the Great War and the Great Depression. While bad for food lovers, it was actually quite good for health.
From the 1980s an increasing amount of the British diet became fast food, prepared meals and ultra-processed foods. These are the actively unhealthy bit of the current British diet.
What?
Britain for most of the 20th century wasn’t even trying to home grow food any more, it came in canned from across the world as it’s a lot easier to ration and stockpile food which lasts forever, hence the reputation for awful food… It’s only comparatively recently that we’ve been rediscovering historical British food
I grew up there in the sixties. Regular ingredients came from the local market (this was before supermarkets) who typically sold regionally grown produce. We supplemented with home and allotment grown vegetables which were shared around the neighborhood. The food was great. Tinned food was quite expensive and generally considered an unhealthy novelty best used on camping trips - I’m looking at you fray bentos, you and your weird deliciousness.
Isn’t that slightly after the rationing ended?