Diet and social inequality at the beginning of the nutritional transition in Mediterranean Spain, 1822–19361

Abstract

Despite the scarcity of primary sources, historiography has made substantial progress concerning our understanding of European diets and the changes undergone by nutritional practices during the process of industrialisation. This process is known as the nutritional transition, presenting a theoretical model for the substitution of a more abundant and balanced diet for the inadequate, cereal-based diets that characterised the Ancien Régime. This work examines the applicability of the model to Mediterranean Spain from two angles: first, the general changes undergone by the diet between 1822 and 1936, based on primary institutional (hospital) sources; and second, the implications of this in terms of social inequality. The two main conclusions are: first, there was a structural transformation of the diet, especially affecting animal-based foodstuffs, which led to an improvement in energy and nutritional terms; second, these changes did not affect all social groups evenly. The statistics presented offer some guidance concerning the social differences reflected by the diet.