Bread and beer

Wandering up and down the aisles of the grocery store always gets me thinking.  It is a noteworthy thing that our civilization has developed an efficient array of supply chains that keep our foods stocked on the shelves.  Although during this current pandemic we are sometimes seeing shelves that are a bit bare, for the most part we can rely on the fact that when we go to the store, food will be there.

I was doing a bit of wandering through online information recently when I bumped into the Assize of Bread and Beer.  This was a law enacted in the 13th Century in England that regulated the weight and price as well as the quality of these two products.  It was the first law in English history that put controls on the sale of foods.  And it was very sternly and rigidly enforced.  Bread, of course, has been a staple of our diets for centuries.  And my understanding is that the importance of beer, ales, and other fermented beverages in medieval society is predicated on the idea that clean potable water was not always available, but you could always safely drink these beverages that would be clean of any bacteria.

In our modern times, we take for granted that our foods are healthy and clean, and prepared and preserved properly.  Our US FDA  and other agencies at all levels of government are responsible for that process, and while sometimes people may crow about "too much government", I for one am happy to know that someone is taking responsibility for ensuring the safety of our society's food chains.  Apparently much of what we do to ensure food safety can all be traced back to the 13th Century Assize of Bread and Beer.

So here's a pint raised in acknowledgement of that important bit of medieval legislation.