A History of Bread : Consumers, Bakers and Public Authorities since the 18th Century / Peter Scholliers.

ISBN:

9781350370265

Title:

Author:

Scholliers, Peter, author.

Personal Author:

Scholliers, Peter, author.

Edition:

1st ed.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (296 pages)

Series:

Food in Modern History: Traditions and Innovations

Food in Modern History: Traditions and Innovations.

Contents:

Introduction -- Part I: The Consumer -- 1. Eating Bread -- 2. Types of Bread -- 3. Prices and Purchasing power -- 4. Acquiring Bread: Baking, Buying and Stealing -- 5. Calories, Kilos and Grams -- 6. Bad bread: Fraud, Additives and Riots -- Part II: The Baker -- 7. Artisanal Baking -- 8. Technology and Hygiene -- 9. The Factories -- 10. Wages, Costs and Profits -- 11. Image, Status and Wealth -- 12. Politics, Strikes and Consultations -- Part III: The Government -- 13. Grain Policy -- 14. Price Control -- 15. Fraud on the Track -- 16. School and Education -- 17. Committees, Councils, Institutes and Agencies -- Conclusion: Good Bread -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Appendices -- Index

Subject Term:

Bread -- History -- 19th century.

Bread -- History -- 20th century.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2024

Publication Information:

London :

Bloomsbury Academic,

2024.

Bloomsbury Publishing (UK),

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
XX(311905.1)	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

For a long time, everything revolved around bread. Providing more than half of people's daily calories, bread was the life-source of Europe for centuries. In the middle of 19th century, a third of household expenditure was spent on bread. Why, then, does it only account for 0.8% of expenditure and just 12% of daily calories today?In this book, Peter Scholliers delves into the history of bread to map out its defining moments and people. From the price revolution of the 1890s that led to affordable and pure white bread, to the taste revolution of the 1990s that ushered in healthy brown bread, he studies consumers, bakers and governments to explain how and why this food that once powered an entire continent has fallen by the wayside, and what this means for the modern age. From prices and consumption to legislation and technology, Scholliers shows how the history of bread has been shaped by subtle cultural shifts as well as top-down decisions from ruling bodies. From the small home baker to booming factories, he follows changes in agriculture, transport, production and policy since the 19th century to explain why bread, once the centre of everything, is not so today.

Author Notes

Peter Scholliers is Emeritus Professor of the History at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. An expert in the economic, social and cultural history of food in Europe since the 1750s, he is the co-editor in chief of Food & History and co-series editor of Bloomsbury's Food in Modern History series. He has edited and authored many publications in the field including A Cultural History of Food, Writing Food History and Food Culture in Belgium .