Melisseus

By Melisseus

Bread and Roses

More than 11 decades ago, a US women's suffrage activist, Helen Todd, included in a speech the phrase 'Bread and Roses', symbolising the demand of ordinary working people for not only a fair wage but also a life of dignity. The term became attached to a Massachusetts textile workers' dispute - the Bread & Roses strike - and also inspired a 1911 poem. A version of the poem was eventually set to music - a marching tune somewhat like an anglophone take on the anthem in Les Miserables. The song is still popular in the politically progressive corners of UK frequented by some of my family, and inspired an Xmas present to me of rice paper disks, printed with a graphic of, guess what, bread and roses that I can attach to my loaves

Served with butternut squash & ginger soup, Delice de Bourgogne, Comté and Rollright cheeses this made a robust lunch for friends old and new

I wonder if anyone will be singing about Brittania Unchained in the 2130s, or eating only British cheeses

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