From Farm to Fork: Transformations in the Food Economy of Late Mamluk Cairo

• published: 25 Mar 2015
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Anthony T. Quickel (MA Candidate, Dept. of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, The American University in Cairo) presents on March 21, 2015 a paper entitled, "From Farm to Fork: Transformations in the Food Economy of Late Mamluk Cairo" at the Annual History Seminar of the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations of the American University in Cairo. Abstract: This paper seeks to understand the effects of demographic, economic, and geographic changes in Cairo’s food economy during the fifteenth century. Current research indicates that this period was categorized by price inflation and frequent famines, being part of a larger economic system in flux. Generally, these price crises and periods of dearth have been treated as symptoms of a larger problem of bad economic planning on the part of successive Mamluk regimes. Upon closer examination of the various factors at play during the later fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, several important understudied factors also come to light – with the effects of the plague on the labor-intensive agricultural sector being foremost among them. The transformations of the food economy, however, were not relegated to issues of supply. The transportation, storage, and vending of food products also underwent changes in the fifteenth century. By studying the orientation of Cairo’s food markets in the period, it is clear that the market places were integral indicators of various socio-economic conditions. Changes in the market system, therefore, often represented major changes in other aspects of Cairo’s overall economic situation. One particularly important reorientation was a consequence of the decline of al-Maqs and the rise of Bulaq as Cairo’s main port. With regards to this shift in shipping and also an overall decline in population as a result of recurring plagues, Cairo’s food markets shifted and responded to a new geographic orientation and demographic reality. By examining these transformations in Cairo’s food distribution alongside various issues connected to Egypt’s declining agricultural production and the city’s food supply, a clear portrait of a food economy from farm to fork may be illuminated. In doing so, the shifts in the Egyptian food economy may be understood as part of a larger economic system in flux.