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Gifting food in EarlyModern England vs Present dayMissed an anniversary? No idea what to getsomeone for Christmas? Need to make up with a friend? What to do? Simpleanswer- food! Giving food as a gift has long been a tradition for any occasion.It is either a gift from the heart or can be quick easy option to make someonehappy in a rush to find a gift. The meaning behind gifting food has come tohold a far different meaning than it did in the early modern period. Thisleaves us with the question of has the meaning of gifting changeddiachronically? By looking at the importance of gifting food in the EarlyModern period, we can compare whether our meanings behind gifting food is stillas significant to our society.Try to cast your minds back to the 16th and 17thcentury. Life is far different from our own and food is, in some households,meticulously recorded in Account books. In these account books, gift givingappears to be centered around seasons, particularly during New Year, where arise of gifts are recorded.[1]                               Thisis not unlike our own society at Christmas, but intentions behind the food arenot the same. Today we gift and receive to families and friends, in the EarlyModern period the biggest group of gift givers are marked as unidentified andmust be, according to Felicity Heal, assumed to be tenants.[2]A large number of gifts from the ‘unidentified’ are recorded as capons andpeahens items that would be gifted as part of the custom of providing ‘boon’hens, used to show they expected entertainment in return.[3]Today, we do not give giftswith the expectation of receiving something in return, rather to show ourgratitude, which we are grateful for if reciprocated.        Figure 1- Fruit Basket           Throughoutthe year there are entries of other food types ranging from meats ofhigh-status members of society to fruits from poorer tenants.[4]The differing in food groups is due tosocietal labelling and seasonality, two things we do not see in a modernsociety. Two main labels that gifts were separated in to were ‘dietary’ and‘hierarchy’.        Figure 2- Deer Meat Cuts             Takingvenison and capons as the example, we can look at how they are broken down dueto an emphasis on what was acceptable to eat in accordance to one’s status andhumour.[5]Capons were a common gift from tenants to higher status land-owners and were anexample of one of the more nutritional birds, whilst venison, also one of thehealthier examples of meat, was gifted from one higher status member toanother. [6]Both foods meet the dietary requirements; it is the accessibility of the meatsseparates them by class. In comparison, chocolate is a highly gifted item in a modernsociety that is seen to go against health recommendations and can be giftedacross all classes. Whilstcertainly less defined than in the early modern period, for the purposes ofcomparison we will assume that there is still somewhat a visible class systemdetermined by wealth. Gifting chocolate does not reinforce a hierarchyas it is accessible to all, whilst venison does as only members of higherstatus in the hierarchy can obtain and gift it to those of equal status. Ingifting chocolate within a modern society we see a focus on convenience ratherthan the symbolic intention of gifting in the early modern period.Origins of gifting come from the hunter gatherer society,where the animal would have distributed; the highest quality section of meatwould go to the hunter then as more is given out on a first come first servebasis the portions decrease in quality.[7]By the early modern period and definitely by today there is no longer a huntergatherer society there is instead a consumer society. It is the growth of theconsumer society today that has led to the removal of seasonality in the modernperiod. Better methods of preservation at the end of the 17thcentury allowed for easier commercialisation of food items but it did notaffect the seasonality of when it was possible to gift them.[8]Fruits, like berries, would only have been available in thesummer months, whereas now they are available year-round. Removing seasonalityalso removes the foods significance as there is no anticipation to receive it. You can still gift a readilyavailable food item but it holds less meaning. Why? Because without seasonalityfruits lose their excitement that was built up waiting for them to be in season.The same can be said for sugars and spices which were originally was onlyavailable to high classes is now available to all. There is no longerseasonality of food thanks to both consumerism and shops holding items all yearround, in contrast you would have to wait for certain foods in the early modernperiod. Consumerism today has taken away some significance of gifting certainfoods.         Figure 3- Chocolate             Giftgiving has changed a lot since the 1500’s evolving alongside society withtastes in gifts changing with trends and availability of new technology. Theone staple gift is food even though this has also changed to fit society itsbasis is still the same. Food is universal and essential to life, it can beused as a last-minute gift or one carefully thought about and lovingly homemadefor someone. Some of the meaning behind gifting food has changed, as doeseverything in society, but I do not think you can say the significance has.Whether it’s a thought through gift or mass-produced item the sentiment behindit and in receiving it stays the same. Today you may prefer to receivechocolate over venison and chocolate is easier to come by then going huntingbut both items held the same significance in their own time period. It is safeto say that although the meaning behind gifting food has altered there is noalteration in the importance of receiving it or motives of giving.BibliographyBerking, Helmuth, Sociology ofgiving, (Nottingham Trent, 1999), trans. by Patrick CamillerHeal, Felicity, ‘Food Gifts, the Household and the politics ofExchange in Early Modern England’, Pastand Present, No. 199, (May, 2008)Heal, Felicity, The Power ofGifts, Gift-Exchange in Early Modern England, (New York, 2004)Thirsk, Joan, Food in EarlyModern England, Phases, Fads,Fashions 1500-1760, (Kings Lynn, 2007)FiguresFigure 1- https://www.fromyouflowers.com/products/deluxe_fruit_basket.htmFigure 2- https://www.chartfarm.com/venison/Figure 3- https://www.friars.co.uk/chocolate-c1/chocolate-bars-c5/lindt-gold-milk-chocolate-bar-p504[1]Felicity Heal, ‘Food Gifts, the Household and the politics of Exchange in EarlyModern England’, Past and Present, No.199, (May, 2008), p. 49[2]Ibid p. 49[3]Ibid p. 50[4]Felicity Heal, The Power of Gifts,Gift-Exchange in Early Modern England, (New York, 2004), p. 36[5]Felicity Heal, ‘Food Gifts, the Household and the politics of Exchange in EarlyModern England’, Past and Present, No.199, (May, 2008), p. 57[6]Ibid p. 57[7]Helmuth Berking, Sociology of giving,(Nottingham Trent, 1999), trans. by Patrick Camiller, p. 65[8]Joan Thirsk, Food in Early Modern England,Phases, Fads, Fashions 1500-1760, (KingsLynn, 2007), p. 133