Lobster: A Poor Man’s Food Evolves into a Wealthy Man’s Food :: Essays Papers

Lobster: A Poor Man’s Food Evolves into a Wealthy Man’s Food When do natural products become a delicacy? They become a delicacy when they become harder to find in their natural setting. This is what happened to the lobster and how the demands of the consumers changed. During Colonial times, the status of lobster was much different than today. It was once considered a poor man’s food. Now, it is considered a delicacy and found in many fancy dishes and at most higher priced restaurants. Today, lobster prices are high. If you want to eat a good lobster, you have to pay a decent price for it. The change in status of lobster occurred when the supply of lobster started to become depleted. As the sources of lobster were being depleted the demand increased in wealthier markets. This occurred because wealthier people could afford the higher prices created by a shrinking supply. The supply of the lobster population is what influenced the changing demands of the consumers. When settlers first came to America, lobster was considered a poor man’s food. The lobsters were so abundant at that time that many people felt that they were competing with them for space on the shore. The settlers felt that the lobster had no nutritional value. At that time both Native Americans and settlers used the lobster as fertilizer for their fields and as bait to catch other fish. Lobster was so disdained that it was given to prisoners, indentured servants, and children. This was such a common practice that in Massachusetts many servants and prisoners had it put into their contract that they could not be fed lobster more than two times a week. In the end, new technological innovations caused the disappearance of cheap lobster. Traps and smack boats were two technologies that greatly influenced the depleting lobster population. Lobstering changed from a hunting and gathering activity for local subsistence into a prosperous business enterprise. It became a business because fishermen were now trying to fill the demands of the consumers. The New Englanders were suddenly using lobster as a way to earn an income. New technologies helped them catch more lobsters to sell to more people. One of the new technologies invented was the use of traps to get the lobsters.