Food Crises

A failed harvest leaves a heavier paper trail than a good one: relief rolls, price lists, ships’ manifests, and the accounts of the people who lived through it. Every scene here rebuilds one of those moments where it was felt — in the fields, the markets, the rations — from archaeology and the documentary record, so that a line in a table becomes a place with people in it.

Explore by period

Bronze Age Networks (2)

4.2 Kiloyear Drought and Akkadian Food Crisis, Old Kingdom Nile Failure and Subsistence Crisis

Iron Age Kingdoms (1)

Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean Food Crisis

The Classical World (3)

A Roman Soldier at Masada, Sohgaura Famine-Relief Provision, Roman Grain Crisis after Caesar's Assassination

The Medieval Food Worlds (7)

Famine of 536–545, Famine under the Tang, 762–764, Heian Japan Famine of 815–817, Egyptian Famine of 1064–1072, Great Famine of 1315–1317, Deccan Durga Devi Famine, Ming China Famine of 1437–1439

The Columbian Exchange (8)

Jamestown’s Starving Time, Russian Famine of 1601–1603, Deccan and Gujarat Famine of 1630–1632, Northern China Famine and Ming Collapse, Korean Gyeongsin Famine, Great Famine of Estonia and Livonia, Finnish Great Famine, Scotland's Seven Ill Years

The Early Industrial Food Age (26)

Dublin During the Great Famine, James Lind’s Scurvy Experiment, Great Frost Famine of 1709, Irish Famine of 1740–1741, Bengal Famine of 1769–1773, Tenmei Famine, Chalisa Famine, Laki Famine in Iceland

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The Industrial Diet (26)

Postwar London and Rationing, British Wartime Food Rationing, Ethiopian Great Famine, Russian Famine of 1891–1892, Ottoman Anatolian Famine, Indian Famine of 1896–1897, East African Famine of 1896–1900, Indian Famine of 1899–1900

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The Ultra-Processed Age (29)

Chinese Great Leap Forward Famine, Bihar Food Crisis, Biafran Famine, Sahel Famine, Wollo and Tigray Famine, Bangladesh Famine, Cambodian Famine under the Khmer Rouge, East Timor Occupation Famine

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All 102 results

Northeast Brazil Great Drought FamineNortheast Brazil Great Drought FamineNorthern China Famine and Ming CollapseNorthern China Famine and Ming CollapseOld Kingdom Nile Failure and Subsistence CrisisOld Kingdom Nile Failure and Subsistence CrisisOrissa FamineOrissa FamineOttoman Anatolian FamineOttoman Anatolian FaminePanama Disease Ends the Gros Michel Banana EraPanama Disease Ends the Gros Michel Banana EraPersian Famine of 1870–1872Persian Famine of 1870–1872Phylloxera Devastates European VineyardsPhylloxera Devastates European VineyardsPostwar London and RationingPostwar London and RationingPotato Late Blight Reaches EuropePotato Late Blight Reaches EuropeRajputana FamineRajputana FamineRinderpest Devastates African HerdsRinderpest Devastates African HerdsRoman Grain Crisis after Caesar's AssassinationRoman Grain Crisis after Caesar's AssassinationRussian Famine of 1601–1603Russian Famine of 1601–1603Russian Famine of 1891–1892Russian Famine of 1891–1892Russian Famine of 1921–1922Russian Famine of 1921–1922Ruzagayura FamineRuzagayura FamineSahel FamineSahel FamineScotland's Seven Ill YearsScotland's Seven Ill YearsShrimp Disease Exposes Aquaculture VulnerabilityShrimp Disease Exposes Aquaculture VulnerabilitySiege of Leningrad StarvationSiege of Leningrad StarvationSohgaura Famine-Relief ProvisionSohgaura Famine-Relief ProvisionSomalia FamineSomalia FamineSouth Sudan Famine DeclarationSouth Sudan Famine DeclarationSouth Sudan Famine-Likely ConditionsSouth Sudan Famine-Likely ConditionsSouthern Corn Leaf Blight Strikes U.S. MaizeSouthern Corn Leaf Blight Strikes U.S. MaizeSoviet Famine beyond UkraineSoviet Famine beyond UkraineSoviet Kazakh FamineSoviet Kazakh FamineSt. Lawrence Island FamineSt. Lawrence Island FamineSudan Famine in El Fasher and KadugliSudan Famine in El Fasher and KadugliSudan Famine in Zamzam CampSudan Famine in Zamzam CampSudan Famine of 1984–1985Sudan Famine of 1984–1985Tambora-Year Famine in EuropeTambora-Year Famine in EuropeTenmei FamineTenmei FamineTenpō FamineTenpō FamineThe Anchoveta Collapse Reveals Industrial Fishing LimitsThe Anchoveta Collapse Reveals Industrial Fishing LimitsThe Great French Wine Blight Drives GraftingThe Great French Wine Blight Drives GraftingThe Great Kantō Earthquake Remakes Tokyo's Food CultureThe Great Kantō Earthquake Remakes Tokyo's Food CultureTigray Famine-Like ConditionsTigray Famine-Like ConditionsVietnamese FamineVietnamese FamineWartime Rationing Reorganizes Civilian DietsWartime Rationing Reorganizes Civilian DietsWollo and Tigray FamineWollo and Tigray Famine