What would the world be like if the only food eaten was dictated by the social class system? What if only the rich could have Starbucks because they could afford to pay for their tiredness? Well, the Elizabethan Era social class system of 1558-1603 did exactly that; it dictated the diet of the poor and the wealthy. Similar to today, meal plans of the Elizabethan Era followed a strict and structured format that included multiple meals per day (Alchin 5). All social classes ate the three usual meals, breakfast, dinner, and supper, but did not mind skipping a meal if had too. The Elizabethan Royalty and Nobility were known by the common people for their luxury banquets and exquisite meals. The most magnificent of all the banquets were the ones
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Unlike today, there was no welfare to help the unfortunate, but the government of Tudor England became troubled because of the elevated number of the poor (“The Poor in Elizabethan England”). The diet of the poor was more nourishing than that of the nobles. The rich did not consume many vegetables, because they were considered a suspicion. The nobles diet lacked fiber and Vitamin C, which led to many health problems, like bad teeth, scurvy and rickets, and skin disease. Sugar was mostly bought by the wealthy and this was known to blacken teeth. Before sugar was introduced, honey was used to sweeten foods. This became fashionable, and they had cosmetics that blackened teeth so those who were wealthy could blacken teeth if their teeth were not already black (Alchin …show more content…
The average breakfast of all social classes was eaten at seven; that meal usually comprised of bean or pea porridge, cold meat, cheese, eggs, and salt fish (Crouch 1). Many had to wake up, get dressed, and eat in a hurry in order to not be late for work (Ros 1). Those who lived an extremely expedient lifestyle ate and drank only ale and bread because these were easy to consume in a hurry. Today there are assortments of foods, but in the Elizabethan time period they were still discovering foods. They would eat, work, and then normally at around eleven o’clock they would eat lunch (Ros
Unlike today, there was no welfare to help the unfortunate, but the government of Tudor England became troubled because of the elevated number of the poor (“The Poor in Elizabethan England”). The diet of the poor was more nourishing than that of the nobles. The rich did not consume many vegetables, because they were considered a suspicion. The nobles diet lacked fiber and Vitamin C, which led to many health problems, like bad teeth, scurvy and rickets, and skin disease. Sugar was mostly bought by the wealthy and this was known to blacken teeth. Before sugar was introduced, honey was used to sweeten foods. This became fashionable, and they had cosmetics that blackened teeth so those who were wealthy could blacken teeth if their teeth were not already black (Alchin …show more content…
The average breakfast of all social classes was eaten at seven; that meal usually comprised of bean or pea porridge, cold meat, cheese, eggs, and salt fish (Crouch 1). Many had to wake up, get dressed, and eat in a hurry in order to not be late for work (Ros 1). Those who lived an extremely expedient lifestyle ate and drank only ale and bread because these were easy to consume in a hurry. Today there are assortments of foods, but in the Elizabethan time period they were still discovering foods. They would eat, work, and then normally at around eleven o’clock they would eat lunch (Ros