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Rural Life Research

Topic: American Food

• In the mid- to late 19^th century, food on the farmstead was mostly what you grew or raised yourself, so the typical diet depended on both the region where you lived and time of year. Fresh fruits and vegetables were a bigger part of the diet in the spring and summer. Many farms kept a cow for milk and chickens for eggs and meat.
• Making and preserving foods took much more of the day in the 19^th century. Mornings often began with baking bread or biscuits. The time-saving appliances, from microwaves to blenders, hadn’t been invented. Food was cooked on wood-burning stoves, which, of course, required starting a fire with firewood. Butter was made by churning milk, which was done by hand.
• Soups and stews were popular foods on the farm because these could be made in large quantities from whatever was available. Cream of pea soup was made from milk, onions and peas. Cream of tomato used (you guessed it) tomatoes. Chicken soup was made from chickens raised on the farm and whatever vegetables and grains that were available.
• Canning was one way to preserve fruits and vegetables for the winter. In colder parts of the country, meat could be stored on an enclosed back porch as the temperature was cold enough to be a natural refrigerator.
• Farm families very seldom ate in a restaurant and grocery stores with large selections of processed food that see today did not exist. When they did go to a store in town, it was to buy staples such as flour, sugar and salt.

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Topics Within Research

Ideas for Artifacts

Finished example for one artifact

To Do List

• Complete Rural Life Research
• Choose your 4 artifacts
• Complete Artifacts Assignment on Google Classroom