Food for Thought: Comparing Estimates of Food Availability in England and Wales, 1700-1914

Bernard Harris (bernard.harris@strath.ac.uk), Roderick Floud and Sok Chul Hong (sokchul.hong@snu.ac.kr)

No 20177, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: In The Changing Body (Cambridge University Press and NBER, 2011), the authors presented a series of estimates showing the number of calories available for human consumption in England and Wales at various points in time between 1700 and 1909/13. The current paper corrects an error in those figures but also compares the estimates of The Changing Body with those published by a range of other authors. The differences reflect disagreements over a number of issues, including the amount of land under cultivation, the extraction and wastage rates for cereals and pulses and the number of animals supplying meat and dairy products. The paper considers recent attempts to achieve a compromise between these estimates and challenges claims that there was a dramatic reduction in either food availability or the average height of birth cohorts in the late-eighteenth century.

JEL-codes: N01 N33 N53 O1 O13 O52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-gro and nep-his
Note: DAE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published as P. A. Harris, 2016. "Food for thought," Equine Veterinary Education, vol 28(3), pages 121-122.

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