Food Glorious Food

This family-oriented exhibition looks at the place of food in British culture and how what we eat – and how we grow and prepare it – reflects who we are. Children are introduced to topics such as allotments, rationing, and the post-war introduction of world flavours to our collective palate through interactive elements such as a pantry filled with vintage packaging, a guess-the-gadget display featuring labour-saving devices of yore, a vegetable patch play area filled with soft toys and the chance to dress up in sweet fruit costumes. Recorded interviews from the British Library's oral history archive with people across the country, which reveal our eating habits from the last 50 years, are engaging for both kids and adults. The 'Food Forum' showcases footage from the British Pathe archive – Fanny Craddock demonstrating kitsch food carving techniques; cringeworthy footage of a '60s Butlins 'Chinese eating contest' using chopsticks – and allows visitors to share their own food likes, dislikes, recipes and memories.