Tinned Food with Lindsay Middleton

The British Food History Podcast

Today Neil talks to food historian and returning guest Lindsay Middleton about the history of tinned food –something one doesn’t really think about, tinned food being just so every day.

We talked about what led her to take on the topic, its origins, how people had to be convinced by such an alien concept, the big sell to the navy, and to well-to-do housewives, the big tined food scandal, and the inherent snobbishness around using tinned foods, and many other things.

Follow Lindsay on Instagram and Threads @lindsaymiddleton_ and on Twitter @lindsmiddleton.

Read Lindsay’s paper about tinned foods: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&context=dgs

Listen to Lindsay’s appearance on the BBC Radio 4 programme Free Thinking talking about tinned foods: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jcr0

There are 2 Easter eggs associated with this episode, to access them start a monthly £3 subscription.

Subscribers get access to all of the Easter eggs, premium blog content and Neil’s monthly newsletter. Visit https://britishfoodhistory.com/support-the-blog-podcast/ for more details. On that page, you could also donate a one-off ‘virtual coffee’ or ‘virtual pint’. All money received goes into making more content.

Other bits:

Lindsay’s previous appearance on the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6S2YCcfFMqipsOrZ48wVAp?si=12e95b1ce4454bca

The Elizabeth Raffald Manchester Central Library event at 6pm on 13 September: https://librarylive.co.uk/event/elizabeth-raffald-englands-most-influential-housekeeper/

Neil will be speaking at the Ludlow Food Festival on Sunday 10 September at 2.30pm, talking all things Elizabeth Raffald: https://www.ludlowfoodfestival.co.uk/

He is also talking at Chelsea History Festival on Friday 29 September 2023, at 6pm about the history of sugar: https://chelseahistoryfestival.com/

Neil’s very long Twitter thread of cocktails: https://twitter.com/neilbuttery/status/1678814821406392320?s=20

Neil’s blogs:

‘British Food: a History’ http://britishfoodhistory.com

‘Neil Cooks Grigson’ http://neilcooksgrigson.com

Order Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper at your favourite bookshop, or from the publisher Pen & Sword History: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Before-Mrs-Beeton-Hardback/p/22437

Neil’s other book A Dark History of Sugar is available now from all bookshops as well as from the publisher Pen & Sword: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/A-Dark-History-of-Sugar-Hardback/p/20481

Don’t forget there will be postbag episodes, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or indeed any episode, or have a question about the history of British food please email Neil at [e-mail], or find me on twitter @neilbuttery, or Instagram and Threads dr_neil_buttery my DMs are open. You can also join the British Food: a History Facebook discussion page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/britishfoodhistory