What Did People Eat in Colonial Times?

In colonial times, people ate different types of grains, fish, game birds, fruits, dairy products and vegetables that were available in each colony. Colonists lived in different regions, such as the New England, Middle Colonies and Southern Colonies, so they grew different types of crops as food sources. Similarly, the meats that colonists ate could have included pork, beef or any game animal that they hunted, such as turkey, deer, rabbit or goose.

In the Middle Colonies, people grew crops that included wheat, oats and barley. The crops of the Southern Colonies were corn, fruits, vegetables, pumpkin, rice and beans. Many of these crops also were exported to other colonies.

Colonists from the New England colonies generally had simple diets. For breakfast, they could eat milk and baked bread. Dinner, which was the big meal of the day, consisted of pudding, meat, vegetables and cheese. Other foods that they ate could have included currants, raisins, turnips, cranberries and eggs.