Sugaropolis: Transnational Foodways and Dietary Change in Scotland

This project will begin to uncover how West Indian sugar cane transformed Scotland from a remote agrarian society to a globalised society dominated by factory production, industrial manufacturing and mass consumption, as sugar moved from a high-class luxury to a working class staple and key ingredient in preserved and prepared foods. By combining historical research with user-friendly visual media, the research will capture local stories of how long-term increases in the production, manufacture and consumption of sugar have affected people and diets in Greenock, Scotland (dubbed 'Sugaropolis' in the 19th century). The aim is to bring these stories to life with figures and graphs made using historical GIS and an historical video game. Scottish Crucible funding will enable initial Design Visualisation of the historical video game and of initial figures and graphs for the website. These tools will be co-produced and co-designed with Abertay students of computer gaming and local artists and historians in Greenock at a project workshop