Colonial Food

History of the first 13 Colonies and life in the Colonial Period

Food & Meals: The daily lives of the colonists in the 13 Colonies during the Colonial Period

Colonial Food
Colonial food in the late 1700's was varied and abundant. By 1775 all of the 13 colonies had been established and there was a population of 2.5 million people. Life in the New England colonies focussed on town life and people worked in industries such as whaling and ship building. New England imported agricultural products from other colonies. The majority of people in the Middle Colonies worked on small farms and home-grown food was in good supply. The warm climate made it possible to grow crops throughout the year in the Southern colonies and was ideally suited for plantations and farming. Food in Colonial America was plentiful and included a lot of meat and vegetables.

Colonial Food - Daily Meals and Fasting

The number of daily meals eaten during at certain times of the day often varied due to the season but generally colonists would eat three times every day:

• Breakfast was generally eaten between 6 -7
• Dinner was generally eaten at mid-morning between 12 - 2
• Supper was the most substantial meal and generally eaten between 6 -7

Colonial food was eaten from wooden or horn dishes. Each colonist had their own knife. There were few forks and spoons were rarely used. Any liquid food, such as soups, was drunk from a cup. The early colonists and settlers were extremely religious and the Puritans and Quakers stressed that food should be simple and that it was a sin to indulge their appetites. Their food was usually boiled to make puddings and dumplings. For most of the early colonists and settlers fasting and abstaining from eating meat was practised for over half the days in the year. Strict religious observances banned the eating of meat on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and meat was banned during the religious seasons of Lent and Advent.

Colonial Food - Crops
Farming was suited to the Middle colonies, to such an extent that they are often called the "breadbasket colonies" because they grew so many crops, especially wheat but also included barley, oats, rye and corn. Farming in New England for crops like wheat was impractical because of the poor soil. The Middle colonies raised crops such as corn, pumpkins, rye, squash and beans all of which were common types of colonial food. The Southern Colonies concentrated on agriculture and developed massive plantations exporting corn, vegetables, grain, fruit and livestock to the other colonies for colonial food. By the 1690's and rice became the mainstay of the colonies of Georgia and South Carolina. The crops raised for colonial food included those on the following list:

Colonial Food - Fish
The environment of the 13 colonies included lush woodlands, rivers and the ocean. Fish was abundant and an extremely important item in Colonial food. Fish was obtained from the ocean or from the rivers that snaked through the lands. Sea Mammals included whales and seals. The different types of fish  and shellfish found in the 13 colonies and eaten as part of the diet of colonial food included:

Colonial Food - Game
Game birds native to North America and also birds introduced from Europe supplemented other types of Colonial food and included:

Colonial Food brought from Europe
When colonists arrived in America they planted familiar crops from Europe and raised domestic animals for meat that included sheep, cattle, pigs and chickens. The familiar types of food such as beef, pork and mutton were supplemented with produce that was available in the New World. The familiar meat from domestic animals brought from Europe were cooked as the preferred meat served as colonial food.

Colonial Food - Dairy Products
Irish and Scottish immigrants had been instrumental in importing cattle into the American colonies in the late 1700's. This provided the opportunity to include dairy products into the list of colonial food that was available to the colonists. Dairy products included:

Colonial Food sent to Europe
In turn, the Colonial food types found in North America were exported to England and Europe. The new types of food introduced to Europeans from the New World included:

Colonial Food and Drink

The drinks consumed by colonists included popular beverages such as coffee, tea, and chocolate. Household industries emerged making alcohol such as beer, cider, whiskey and rum. These household industries grew and distilleries and breweries were built developing highly lucrative alcohol related industries. The liquor was therefore manufactured and rum became a major export from the colonies.

Colonial Food - Fruit and Vegetables
A variety of fruits and vegetables were available in the various regions of the 13 colonies. Apples were planted as soon as the colonists and settlers arrived in the New World. The numbers of fruits and vegetables native to North America were increased by the introduction of European varieties. The apple, quince, plum, pear, nectarine, peach, cherry, apricot, and nectarine were all introduced from Europe. Raw fruits and raw vegetables were considered unappetizing and most were cooked and served in stews, sauces, pottage, soups and in pies and fruit cobblers. The word "vegetable" was rarely used  during the 1600 and 1700's. Instead the term "herb" covered all green plants, roots and herbs. Food items which came from the ground had traditionally only been considered fit for the poor. The following list of fruit and vegetables were added to the list of colonial food options:

Colonial Food - Chart - Colonial America - Meat - Fish - Shellfish - Fruit - Vegetables - Herbs - Dairy products - Facts - Colonists - Info - Kids - Children - Studies - Meat - Fish - Shellfish - Fruit - Chart - Vegetables - Herbs - Dairy products - Teaching resource on Teachers - Chart - Colonial Food - Facts about Colonial Food - Fast - Information - Info - Kids - Meat - Fish - Shellfish - Fruit - Vegetables - Herbs - Dairy products - Children - Studies - Chart - Colonial Food - Teaching resource on Colonial Food - Chart - Teachers - Colonial Food