Food Production and Sourcing
Food and Drink Oral History ProjectThe journey of food from farm to fork in Birmingham has shifted considerably in the last 100 years, with sourcing food moving from back gardens and local markets to supermarkets and online retailers.
Although Birmingham is no longer synonymous with large-scale agriculture, the city’s social and spatial history is still intertwined with its agrarian past:
- Heath – open, uncultivated land
- Lea – areas of woodland
- Ham – an enclosure in the bend of a river
- Field – open land without trees
Farming / allotments
Whilst large scale agriculture is in our past, Birmingham’s allotment culture is still b(l)ooming. The city hosts more plots than any other local authority, and Uplands Allotments in Handsworth is the largest allotment site in the UK. The importance of growing food in allotment spaces surged during wartime, particularly in World War II, when food rationing required inventive solutions to meet the population's needs. Families were encouraged to ‘Dig for Victory’ during World War II, a government campaign aimed at ensuring the public remained well-fed despite shortages. Rhoda Evans recalls how parks, gardens, and any available land were quickly repurposed to support the collective effort for self-sufficiency during those challenging times:
Rhona Evans Transcript
Rhona Evans: He made a garden like that with the bricks and filled it up with dirt. And he, he planted that. And I tell you what, we never went without. It was fresh mint and things to make it a bit better, and a bit of parsley and that. And I grew a tomato, a little pixie tomato, tomatoes till Christmas under on the air raid shelter top, and herbs and things on the no the summer shelter. It was a concrete top, and they had a hole down there. And we put, used to put few herbs or things. And I grew this tomatoes, all little, tiny tomatoes on there, and we got a little bit at the side, you got with chives or something in there, and and then what else did we have? Rabbits. We kept rabbits. Two rabbits. They were pets for the kiddie, but they killed them and ate them for Christmas. And ducks, who killed them? Dad and Tom never forgive them I didn’t.
Slaughterhouses
Today, animal slaughter is a highly regulated industry, with most facilities located away from city centres. However, this wasn’t always the case. Historically, slaughtering took place within residential areas in both private and public slaughterhouses, making it a visible part of urban life. One significant example was the City Meat Market, opened in 1897 on Bradford Street, which housed 20 slaughter booths (Birmingham Wholesale Market Company, 2025). The experience of working in the slaughterhouse was not for the faint hearted - individuals discussed working with wellies filled with cows blood after emptying cattle stomachs. Often, the slaughterhouses were directly connected with butcheries. One individual described eating a full English breakfast inside the slaughter booth, depicting how health and safety standards have shifted in the last 40 years!
Before modern transport methods, cattle often had to be walked over long distances from rural pastures to urban slaughterhouses. This traditional practice, known as cattle droving, required significant time and effort, with herdsmen guiding livestock along established routes, sometimes covering many miles. Arnold Tranter recalls one such journey, walking cattle from Lichfield to Erdington - a trek that could take an entire day or more. Cattle were herded right through town streets as they made their way to the city markets and slaughterhouses:
Arnold Tranter Transcript
Arnold Tranter: You see in the original days that I referred to or have referred to, most of the livestock was walked, even from Lichfield. In my past, I've walked regularly from Lichfield with cattle to Erdington shop, along the main roads, which of course the problem was open[ing] garden gates. No problems with traffic. And then of course, the introduction of transit-- motor vehicles. Then they were of course transported with motor vehicles, but the larger animals like-- Cattle were walked by [drover and dog], they were recognized characters in the area who I remember very well because I used to accompany them, and no mercy on me as a youth and they were professional drovers. The local sale yards used for this area was Lichfield and Tamworth. And on alternative Wednesdays there was a sale yard at Sutton Coldfield behind the Royal and the sale yard at the Scott arms at Great Barr. They were alternative Wednesday afternoons, which we patronised. And there again the large animals were walked through Great Barr. What is now King Standing was all farmland. So there were no problems the animals were walked. The smaller stuff like lambs and pigs were brought in horse floats with a net over the top, stop them jumping out.
The audiences using these spaces also changed over the course of the last 100 years. According to our collection prior to the war, the largest proportion of ritual slaughter was by rabbis, with dedicated spaces in slaughterhouses for kosher meat. Increased migration from a range of nations in the post-1945 period prompted a need for Halal slaughterhouses. Arnold Tranter discusses that in order to overcome the lack of culturally appropriate infrastructure in the early days, common practice was to rent slaughterhouses out to Muslim populations in Birmingham to carry out appropriate slaughter methods. Today, animal slaughter is a highly regulated and often hidden practice, removed from urban life. While the practice has become less visible, its historical and cultural significance remains deeply embedded in the social fabric of Birmingham.
Experience of shopping
The experience of shopping in Birmingham has always been vibrant and diverse. From drunken late night auctions of meat on a Saturday outside a pub in Short Heath Road, the pungent fish market between the now lost Bell Street and Phillips Street by St Martin's Church to filling up old jars with treacle in Broad Street. Lily Johnson describes the familiarity of shopping along the Hockley flat:
Lily Johnson Transcript
Lily Johnson: Yes. Oh yes. And just around the corner was Norton Street school so, so I didn't have very far to go. And it was all very game, but the biggest worry of my life was when I'd got to be sent on the flat shopping. And I've got to be, be quick there and hurry up back. That was [laughter] yes. Now here’s the list. And all the shops I'd got to go to, I knew them of course and they knew me. In the butchers it was a case of oh, can’t send your mom that actually he’d be sending you back with it, perhaps a bit stewing steak or something and it wasn't-- it because-- you're always had shin. its dear she says but its good. And ask him to put a bit of sinew in, put a bit of strength into your bones. And when it was cold it was nearly jellied, the gravy, and I used to dread going down there, because, you're alright going down your shopping basket was empty, but coming back you'd got your shopping in it you see. And it did seem a trudge to me to get back [laughter].
Here, the experience of shopping can be seen as both a necessity and a social ritual, tied up with local knowledge of navigating streets and knowing shopkeepers.
For newer arrivals in Birmingham, adaptations had to be made to recipes to suit western palettes due to lack of available ingredients. Una Davis highlights issues with sourcing spices for traditional West Indian dishes, and having to travel to find ingredients:
Una Davis Transcript
Una Davis: Erm well, this particular issue is just called a dinner soup right, because it it's served in a in a very large, deep, large plate yeah. So you wouldn't have things like starters to go with that meal. There would be things like rice again, this would be another meal would have just just plain white rice and that would be served with chicken done West Indian style yes, what I what I normally do I buy the the roasters and we would dress it and joint it and season it with maybe chicken, seasoning, salt and peppers and garlic powder and I'll put it away to marinate for an hour or two right. Then you need some hot oil in a frying pan and you would fry the portions when it's fried, you turn it out into a saucepan, add the onion and the spices again. You know you need your thyme, and you're uhm basil and bay leaves, et cetera and cover it and let it simmer and cooked and that sort of chicken roasting and stuff. What what we find now the the things that are rather varied now because the way it's done in the West Indies, people have changed slightly coming here because first of all, we couldn't get hold of these spices before and so what you find the the texture sort of slightly different from how it would have been cooked back home but I suppose this would go with any sort of traditional food that has sort of been cooked elsewhere because if you haven't got all the ingredients to go with it, yeah…..
Globalisation
Birmingham at this time was considered a world-class hub for food trade, where goods from around the globe filled market stalls and storefronts. This was in part fueled by processes of globalisation and advancements in global transport, bringing new people, cultures and cuisines into our city. This trend toward international cuisine is reflected in the practices of major food retailers, as seen in 1973 when M&S launched frozen chicken korma, introducing an Indian-inspired dish to mainstream British palates (Marks and Spencer, 2025). The city’s embrace of global influences was further fueled by domestic air travel and new waves of immigration, as people from diverse backgrounds brought their culinary traditions with them. Albert Hunt recalls these global processes brought fresh inspiration to the city’s food scene:
Albert Hunt Transcript
Albert Hunt: And gradually since the early 70s. The pattern of eating I would say has changed. And then another thing I think, people going abroad, they come back and they've eaten something different. And they think oh, well, we'll try that at home as you—I expect you know all about that.
Not everyone in Birmingham immediately embraced the influx of global foods and flavours. Some residents were initially hesitant or even resistant to trying unfamiliar cuisines. One interviewee recalls her reluctance to sample local dishes when travelling abroad, preferring instead to bring potatoes on holiday to France!
Birmingham Wholesale Market Company, 2025,. History. Available at: https://birminghamwholesalemarket.company/about-us/history/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).
Marks & Spencer, 2025,. Food Timeline. M&S Archive. Available at: https://archive.marksandspencer.com/timeline/food/ (Accessed: 24 April 2025).