Factory food (yuck) :|

The factory owners were responsible for providing their pauper apprentices with food. Children constantly complained about the quality of the food. In most textile mills the children had to eat their meals while still working. This meant that the food tended to get covered with the dust from the cloth.

Sarah Carpenter:- Our common food was oatcake. It was thick and coarse. This oatcake was put into cans. Boiled milk and water was poured into it. This was our breakfast and supper.

Our dinner was potato pie with boiled bacon it, a bit here and a bit there, so thick with fat we could scarce eat it, though we were hungry enough to eat anything.

Tea we never saw, nor butter.

We had cheese and brown bread once a year.

We were only allowed three meals a day though we got up at five in the morning and worked till nine at night.