Editing Industrial Revolution (section)

====Food and nutrition====
{{Main|British Agricultural Revolution}}
Chronic hunger and malnutrition were the norms for most, including in Britain and France, until the late 19th century. Until about 1750, malnutrition limited life expectancy in France to 35, and 40 in Britain. The US population was adequately fed, taller, and had a life expectancy of 45–50, though this slightly declined by the mid 19th century. Food consumption per person also declined during an episode known as the [[Antebellum Puzzle]].<ref name="The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100"/> Food supply in Great Britain was adversely affected by the [[Corn Laws]] (1815–46) which imposed tariffs on imported grain. The laws were enacted to keep prices high to benefit domestic producers. The Corn Laws were repealed in the early years of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Irish Famine]].

The initial technologies of the Industrial Revolution, such as mechanized textiles, iron and coal, did little, if anything, to lower [[food prices]].<ref name="Pomeranz 2000">{{Citation |last=Pomeranz |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Pomeranz |title=The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-691-09010-8}}</ref> In Britain and the Netherlands, food supply increased before the Industrial Revolution with better agricultural practices; however, population grew as well.<ref name="David S. Landes 1969"/><ref name="Clark2007"/><ref>{{cite book
|title=An Essay on the Principle of Population
|last=Malthus
|first=Thomas
|year=1798
|location=London
|publisher=Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project
|url=http://www.esp.org/books/malthus/population/malthus.pdf
|access-date=12 February 2016
|archive-date=21 April 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421101942/http://www.esp.org/books/malthus/population/malthus.pdf
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
|title=The Genius of China: 3000 years of science, discovery and invention
 |last1=Temple
 |first1= Robert
|first2= Joseph|last2= Needham
|year= 1986|publisher = Simon and Schuster
|location=New York
| postscript = ,|ref={{harvid|Temple|1986}}}} based on the works of Joseph Needham.
</ref>