History · Year 2 · Changes Within Living Memory · Summer Term

Shopping and Food

How did people buy their food before big supermarkets? We will explore old high streets with butchers, bakers, and greengrocers, and see what kind of food people used to eat.

TL;DR:Let's take a trip down memory lane to the bustling high streets of yesterday! Before we had giant supermarkets, how did people buy their food for the week?

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• National Curriculum in England: History Programmes of Study: Key Stage 1

About This Topic

This topic aligns with the Key Stage 1 History curriculum in Great Britain, specifically focusing on 'changes within living memory'. It provides a tangible and relatable context for young learners to understand how daily life has transformed over the past 70 years. The central theme is the shift from the specialised, community-focused shopping experience of the local high street to the convenience-driven, large-scale model of the modern supermarket. Exploring traditional shops like the butcher, baker, and greengrocer allows pupils to appreciate the concept of specialisation and the direct relationship between producer, seller, and consumer.

By comparing a weekly shop from the past with one from today, pupils will not only learn about different retail environments but also touch upon broader historical concepts such as seasonality, local sourcing, and the impact of technology and transport on our food choices. This topic offers rich opportunities for developing historical enquiry skills, such as using sources like photographs and oral histories (interviewing older relatives), and for using chronological language to describe change over time. It serves as an excellent foundation for understanding social history and the evolution of local communities.

Key Questions

1. Identify three types of shops you would find on a high street in the past.
2. Explain why people went to different shops for different foods.
3. Compare a weekly shop today with how a family shopped 70 years ago.

Learning Objectives

• Identify and name at least three types of traditional shops found on a high street.
• Explain why people in the past visited different shops for different kinds of food.
• Describe key differences between shopping in the past and shopping in the present.
• Use vocabulary related to the passing of time, such as 'before', 'long ago', 'then', and 'now'.
• Ask and answer questions about changes that have happened within living memory.

Key Vocabulary

Butcher	A person who prepares and sells meat in a shop.
Baker	A person who bakes and sells bread, cakes, and pastries.
Greengrocer	A person who sells fresh fruit and vegetables.
High Street	The main street in a town where the principal shops and businesses are located.
Shopping Basket	A reusable basket, often made of wicker, used to carry shopping home before plastic bags were common.
Supermarket	A very large shop that sells food, drinks, and household items all in one place.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

All food has always been available all year round, just like in the supermarket today.

What to Teach Instead

In the past, most fruit and vegetables were seasonal. For example, you could only buy strawberries in the summer. Supermarkets now fly food in from all over the world, which is why we can get them in winter.

Common Misconception

People in the past just went to one big shop to get everything.

What to Teach Instead

Supermarkets are a newer invention. Before they existed, people had to go to many different, smaller shops for their food: a butcher for meat, a baker for bread, and a greengrocer for fruit and vegetables.

Common Misconception

Shopping was always done using a car and plastic bags.

What to Teach Instead

Fewer families owned cars 70 years ago, so most people walked to their local shops. They carried their shopping home in reusable baskets or string bags, as items were often wrapped in paper, not plastic.

Active Learning Ideas

Stations Rotation

High Street Role-Play

Set up different shop fronts in the classroom for a butcher, baker, and greengrocer. Pupils use shopping lists and play money to visit each shop, interacting with the 'shopkeeper' to buy specific items.

45 min·Small Groups

Stations Rotation

Shopping Basket Sort

Provide pupils with pictures of shops (e.g., a supermarket aisle, a baker's counter) and food items (e.g., a plastic-wrapped chicken, bread in a paper bag). In pairs, they sort these into 'Then' and 'Now' categories on a large sheet of paper.

20 min·Pairs

Stations Rotation

Grandparent Interview

For a homework task, pupils use a simple, structured questionnaire to interview an older family member about their memories of food shopping. They can ask about their favourite shops, what they bought, and how they carried it home.

30 min·Individual

Real-World Connections

• Visiting a local high street or market to identify any remaining traditional, specialist shops.
• Discussing the benefits of supporting local businesses in the community today.
• Looking at a modern shopping receipt and thinking about how many different shops you would have needed to visit in the past.
• Planning a meal and creating two shopping lists: one for a supermarket and one for a 1950s high street.
• Talking to older family members about their memories of local shops that may no longer exist.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

During the 'Shopping Basket Sort' activity, observe pupils' reasoning for placing pictures in 'Then' or 'Now' categories and listen to their discussions.

Quick Check

Pupils draw a picture of a high street from the past. They must include and label at least three different types of shops and show one item that could be bought in each.

Quick Check

Pupils complete a 'Know, Wonder, Learned' (KWL) chart at the beginning and end of the topic to reflect on their own learning journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why didn't they just have one big shop like Asda or Tesco?

In the past, shopkeepers were experts in one area. The butcher knew all about meat and the baker was an expert at making bread. People trusted these specialists, and the idea of selling everything under one roof hadn't been developed yet.

What did people eat if they couldn't get things like pizza and chicken nuggets?

People's diets were simpler and based on what was available locally. They ate lots of fresh vegetables, meat from the butcher, and bread from the baker. Meals were cooked from scratch, and things like pizza were a rare treat you might find in a special restaurant.

Where did they get milk?

Milk was often delivered directly to your house by a milkman in glass bottles. The milkman would drive a small electric vehicle called a milk float very early in the morning and leave the bottles on your doorstep.