Date: Thursday 27 November

Title: The Natural History of the Ploughman’s Lunch

Speaker: Chris Pollock

Synopsis:

Chris’s talk will be light-hearted but informative and will deal with how we came to develop the essential components of a traditional ploughman’s lunch (bread, beer, cheese and butter) as part of the beginnings of farming in Europe and the Near East.  There is a bit of science, quite a lot of history and some concerns about how we in the UK underestimate the importance of food quality.

Biography:

Chris spent his working life in agricultural research, initially studying the details of carbon metabolism in temperate crops and forages, but ending up in science management and government advisory roles.  After moving up to the North-East for family reasons, Chris joined the Tynedale u3a (tynedale.u3asite.uk) and is currently convenor of the science group.  Whilst listening to others, he became interested in how knowledge was organised and disseminated before the advent of the scientific method which was also a theme of his previous Café Sci  talk  in Sep 24 ‘Metals and Man; from myth via mystery to metallurgy’ on  the history of metals in European society, contrasting the development of knowledge and experience prior to the scientific revolution of the 18^th Century.