Lesson D2: Compare what we eat and what they ate in the workhouse.
Dietary from a workhouse
Open the Word document below for more examples
By Sue Carter and Gail Brown, Redhills Primary
Resources:
At the bottom of this page is a link to a document to use with pupils. Called a Dietary, it lists typical menus for a week in four different workhouses in England. Some were better than others. We do not have this exact information for St Thomas but it would be similar.
The Dietary document will open in Word. You can print copies to give to pupils. You can also edit and add to the document once you have saved it onto a school computer.
You will also need bread, cheese and other foodstuffs to weigh out.
Activity:
Divide the class into three ability groups. TA to work with one group. Teacher to work with one group. More able children to work independently.
Using photocopies of the Dietary sheets (open this below). Look at one day from each workhouse to focus on either Breakfast, Dinner or Supper. Children to order the best to the worse 1-4 depending on what was given and then the amounts. Discuss.
Whole class - Teacher to weigh out a complete day's food in the workhouse and show it on a table. Compare the children's own food diaries with what was given to people in a workhouse. Children to decide which diet they prefer and why?
Although this food looks grim it is probably just as good or better than the diet of a typical farm labourer at the time.
NB Older year groups might like to explore what the present cook orders for school dinners in relation to what the Master would have ordered for the workhouse.