Well, at times and in some places, medieval Europeans ate probably even more. In the 15th century, Barcelonians ate an average of 140 pounds of meat per year, almost triple of today’s consumption.
Post-Plague diets were much improved from pre-Plague diets, and regional variation (especially in areas where pastoralism is strong, like northeastern Spain) was present, but the article also uses later livestock yields for estimating Barcelona’s consumption when livestock of the period were only 50%-75% as heavy before the advent of modern breeding and the four-field system in the 18th century.
I’m actually very interested to read about the households of the Earls of Stafford and Warwick, though, that sent me down a rabbit hole of Renaissance/Late Medieval diet that I suspect I will very much enjoy.
Today we have highly processed soy and corn in various forms. Progress!
Honestly, in the US, at least, we’ve run into the opposite problem - we eat too much meat for a healthy diet (on average, at least).
Suffering from success.
True. Eat your fruits and veggies raw, kids!
You don’t gotta eat em raw for health sake. Some are better for you cooked even.
But it builds character.
But I crave starches and saturated fats.
Fine, live fast, die young.
Here for a good time, not a long time!
Well, at times and in some places, medieval Europeans ate probably even more. In the 15th century, Barcelonians ate an average of 140 pounds of meat per year, almost triple of today’s consumption.
Post-Plague diets were much improved from pre-Plague diets, and regional variation (especially in areas where pastoralism is strong, like northeastern Spain) was present, but the article also uses later livestock yields for estimating Barcelona’s consumption when livestock of the period were only 50%-75% as heavy before the advent of modern breeding and the four-field system in the 18th century.
I’m actually very interested to read about the households of the Earls of Stafford and Warwick, though, that sent me down a rabbit hole of Renaissance/Late Medieval diet that I suspect I will very much enjoy.