Spade, Skirret and Parsnip: The Curious History of Vegetables

The ‘couch potato’ is an idler, the ‘cabbage-head’ a dunce, Swede-bashers are stupid and you may as well give up life if you become a vegetable. A vegetable existence may imply dull monotony, but the humble vegetable has sparked protests, threatened to topple a British government and almost triggered a revolution. From the Scottish Presbyterian campaign against the ‘sinful potato’ to the class act that turned the carrot into a propaganda tool, from garlic inscriptions on Egyptian pyramids to Neolithic broad beans and medieval cabbage, and from the Dig for Victory campaign to their use in perfumes, Spades, Skirrets & Parsnip shows vegetables in a fascinating new light.