• NielsBohron@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I can, given that most families did a hell of a lot more baking/cooking themselves instead of going to restaurants, buying processed food, etc.

      Edit: plus, I forgot about making their own preserves and canning food, both of which require a fair bit of sugar, too.

        • NielsBohron@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Well, lots of demand for an extended period of time (ie centuries), plus a crop that grew well in areas that didn’t take to traditional cash crops, and sugar was relatively easy to process into a form that shipped well even back in the Age of Sail (molasses and rum).

          Frankly, there are a lot of reasons that sugar cane was a popular crop.