From the seeds we plant and the way we process the resulting crops locally, to national and global issues of food sustainability, nutrition and security, the role of milling is essential. As the Mills Archive Trust, it is our role to protect and share the vital historical and enduring contributions of mills, milling and millers to these issues, and to show how learning about the past offers understanding and hope for the future.
This section will expand over time as we write more about this important theme and explore how the Trust’s archive and library resources offer up insight.
The role of milling in food, culture and society
Our vision
The history of milling reveals powerful insights into how societies have fed their people – at local, national and global levels. Milling has long been central to food security, nutrition and human progress. The successes, failures and mistakes of past generations offer valuable lessons for today. Food is universal; it sustains us, shapes cultures, and has the power to bring people together. By exploring milling’s role in this shared human experience, we can foster deeper understanding and connection.
Our unique role
The Mills Archive Trust holds an unparalleled archive and library documenting milling’s influence on food production, public health and nutrition. Our collections shed light on the evolution of milled foods – such as bread – their marketing, and even the birth of modern advertising. Food is deeply intertwined with issues of gender, race and power. Through our collections and educational activities, we can engage diverse communities in these broader social discussions.
Engaging audiences
As an educational charity with local, national and global reach, we use milling history as a unique lens to explore food’s past, present and future. While food history is widely discussed, it is rarely told from the perspective of milling. Yet mills, millers and milling have played a fundamental role in shaping diets and societies.
We aim to:
- Help people understand the origins of their food, the choices available today, and how history has shaped global food systems.
- Celebrate diverse cultures and their mill-related staple foods, exploring their deep cultural significance.
- Facilitate important conversations on colonialism, sexism, racism and the commodification of people and products.
- Bridge different disciplines, enabling conversations between cereal chemists, food researchers, historians and artists.
We will expand this section on ‘Feeding the World’ over time. In the meantime, why not dip into one or some of the sections below?
