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Leftovers: how our ancestors battled food waste

Eleanor Barnett reveals how people in the past tackled food waste, from the Tudor almoner to the rag-and-bone man

Published: March 25, 2024 at 7:40 AM

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From Tudor slop buckets to WW2 potato peel recipes, Eleanor Barnett tells Ellie Cawthorne about how our ancestors used up food leftovers. She reveals some ingenious and appetising tactics for tackling food waste in the past and questions whether we might look back to history to help deal with the issue today.

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Eleanor Barnett is the author of Leftovers: A History of Food Waste and Preservation (Apollo, 2024)

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Authors

Ellie CawthorneHead of content (audio)

Ellie Cawthorne is head of content (audio) at HistoryExtra

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