Food changes over the last 100 years

First listen to the previous item (November 13th) about CPI changes over the last hundred years.

Food also changed. We now eat a different range of food from what New Zealand people ate in 1914. The average household in 1914 ate beef, mutton, pork and tripe. Chicken was not common – it was very expensive. Tripe and sheep’s tongues were removed from the CPI basket in 1975.

In 1949, after the Second World War, soft drinks, ice creams, chocolate and restaurant meals were added to the CPI basket. Ice creams were in a cone. You could not buy 1 litre or 2 litre packs of ice cream then. During the war, sugar was rationed (along with meat, butter and other items) so soft drinks and chocolate were not available. Restaurant meals were usually at a hotel.

In 1955, frozen peas and rice were added to the food basket. Before that, New Zealand people did not usually eat rice. Buying frozen food was possible because, by that time, most New Zealanders had a refrigerator with a small freezer.

Instant coffee was a common food item by 1965. In 1974 kiwi fruit and yoghurt were added to the food basket. It’s hard now to imagine a time when we did not have kiwi fruit or yoghurt. In 1986, wholemeal bread and pasta appeared on the list. Before that, most people ate white bread (and it was not sliced or in a bag. You carried your own clean cloth bag to put it in.) The addition of pasta showed the influence of European food. In 1988, broccoli was added to the basket. Although cauliflower was common, broccoli was a new vegetable for many people in the early 1980s. In 1999, avocados, energy drinks, courgettes, capsicums and convenience meals were included in the basket. In 2002, instant noodles appeared, in 2006 bottled water and soy sauce were added, free-range eggs in 2008 and in 2014, leaf salad in a bag.

These food items tell us a lot about changes in food tastes. Perhaps it also shows us something about immigration or about New Zealanders travelling and trying food from different countries. Why did bottled water become common, and why does the average family now buy free-range eggs?

Vocabulary

• tripe – cow’s stomach
• rationed – everyone had a ration card; this allowed each person a small amount of the food which was in short supply
• courgettes – also called zucchini
• capsicums – also called peppers (e.g. green peppers)