Why consider the histories of childhood through the lens of food?

  • Food provides a fascinating lens through which to explore childhoods now and in the past.
  • Ideas about what foods are suitable for children and why have changed over time. 
  • Ideas about who should feed children have changed over time. Should this be left to families or should the state play a role e.g. in providing free school meals?
  • Ideas about how children should be fed have shifted too. Should they be breastfed of bottle fed? Should they eat at the table with their family?
  • Ideas about 'proper' behaviour at mealtimes has changed.  How were manners instilled in the past?
  • Ideas about learning to cook have changed. Was it an activity primarily for girls?
  • Child hunger was and continues to be a problem. How have families coped with this and what have charities and the state done to provide support?
  • We often thinking of children as merely consuming food, but what role did they play in producing food?
  • And given that food is not just about receiving physical sustenance, what part has food played in the play and celebrations of childhood? 

The painting above is Family Sayng Grace Before a Meal  by the Flemish artist: Anthonius Claeissens -  c.1585. 

CC-BY-NC-ND Image Courtesy of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (object reference STRST : SBT 1990-49)