Sir Frederic Morton Eden’s detailed study on The State of the Poor in 1795 (Eden 1797) highlighted regional differences in diet amongst the working class and extolled the virtues for domestic economy of the northern diet of oatmeal bread and `hasty pudding’ compared with the expensive fare of wheaten bread commonly eaten in the south. These observations have
been used, amongst other things, to construct typical consumption bundles in north and south for the construction of cost-of-living indices (Crafts 1985; Lindert and Williamson 1983) and to compute the calorific content of the typical labourer’s diet for comparisons with workhouse dietaries and over time (Shammas 1984). This latter analysis has demonstrated the superior nutritional content of the northern diet, which was some 23 per cent higher in calories than that of the south.1 Here we revisit the information provided by Eden to obtain a more detailed regional breakdown of the differences in diet across the nation, explore the nutritional value of these diets, examine the determinants of the diet chosen and see if the different nutrition afforded can be observed in output measures, such as height.
