[Sca-cooks] The eating of meat in 14th Century Europe

[Terry Decker]

>Regina wrote:
>  In fact I might have a better chance of dieing of Bubonic plague (I
>understand there are about 5 cases a year - supposedly endemic in the
golden
>ground squirrel population in California.
><snip>
>
>A gentleman from our Barony taught a class at our meeting tonight on the
>Black Death outbreak of the mid-14th century this evening.  It was very
>interesting.  One of the points he made when discussing the changes that
>occurred in the aftermath of the plague was that Europe became a
meat-eating
>area much more so than it had been.  Mass death caused a shortage of the
>labor pool, and as a result, more people could live off of pasturage than
>could work an equivalent amount of tillage.  Less labor for higher gain in
>raising livestock over crops.  I had never considered this aspect, and
>wonder about looking at recipes from say, 1360 onward to see if there are
>more meat recipes (although our sources for northern Europe earlier than
>that aren't very plentiful).
>Thought I'd throw it out here for the gristmill,
>Christianna

While this is probably true, the change would be in the quantity of meat
available lower on the economic ladder.  Since the recipes are primarily
from the wealthy noblity who could afford meat prior to the plague, there
should be little change in the number of recipes.  You also need to keep in
mind that the primary source of food was still grain despite an increase in
meat in the diet.

In addition higher wages and more abundant meat, simple inheritance
increased the average wealth of the survivors.

The economic effects of the bubonic plague in Europe are probably being
paralleled at a slower rate by the AIDS epidemic in Africa.  While the
immediate reality is rather grim, the abstract economic question is whether
AIDS will improve the economy of Africa in the long run or whether the gains
from population reduction will be offset by other factors (such as thieving
leaders).

And I would point out that bubonic plague is endemic in rodent populations
in most of the Western states (all the way to the Oklahoma Panhandle), not
just California.

Bear