Food in wizarding world

[Lee]

No: HPFGUIDX 76304


*snip* 
> Another point along the same lines - I know finances are extremely 
> tight for the Weasleys.  But they always seem to have plenty to eat 
> for all those growing kids.  One teenaged boy can eat a family out 
of 
> house and home, let alone having 5 teens or near-teens at home.  
And  
> Molly seems to pride herself on filling Harry up when he arrives, 
> half-starved, from the Dursley's.  In fact, they seem to take 
guests 
> in their stride - I don't get the sense that Molly is fretting 
about 
> adding another potato to the soup.  I don't remember there being 
any 
> livestock at the Burrow, from the canon descriptions.  How do they 
> put such copious amounts of food on the table?  
> 

I am going to give a true life example from personal experience on 
this manner. 

We already know that Mrs. Weasley has a garden and chickens. Few 
people realize how much FOOD one can obtain from a garden! My 
Grandparents are Italian, and about %90 of their food is home grown. 
Veggies, fruit, eggs, chickens and rabbits, about the only thing they 
need to buy to have the four food groups is flour for bread, and they 
used to grow wheat to feed sheep every year so they could, 
technically, be able to make their flour if they chose to mill it 
themselves *laughing at the idea of my grandma grinding wheat into 
flour, that is so like her*

Taking into account I'm a small person, one visit to my grandmothers 
house for about 5 weeks helped me put on about 3 or 4 pounds. If you 
can beleive it, there are very inexpensive ways to grow food, even 
for poor famers like my grandparents.

Now take the Weasleys...They're wizards! Surely they can make their 
garden "grow" more quickly and with better results than my 
granparents. And what sort of "wizard" food ingredients can they whip 
up from their garden? I'm wondering if Ottery St. Catchpole has a 
grist mill, or a farmers market. Do they sell some of the food they 
grow? 

I think they're doing fine. History tends to show that people with 
little money will find ways around it.

Lee :)