The packed-lunch revolution
The importance of a packed lunch is beyond dispute according to health experts, but historically the packed lunch remains a relatively recent custom in England, with descriptions of lunchboxes seldom (1) ________ in medieval literature. (2) ________, there are scattered references to workers carrying a meal at noon before (3) ________ on arduous journeys, and to factory workers eating packed meals during short midday breaks, but most people went without unless they were merchants or nobles. However, in the nineteenth century it gradually became the (4) ________, not the exception. Some writers have (5) ________ this to the greater availability of containers. Proponents of this view have not always considered other profound social changes. For example, new (6) ________ of employment may well offer a plausible explanation for the greater importance now (7) ________ to lunch, as individuals were increasingly employed for a prescribed number of hours. Often this involved working far from home. Thus, carrying a meal each day away from home was (8) ________ in necessity, and was no longer associated with domestic routine alone.