[ceejayoz]

> That seems like more competition than at any point in human history.

What, were the Vikings running a global monopoly on grain or something?

[hnboredhn]

If you were a random person in a town 1600 - how many people do you think you could buy meat form? I honestly dont know. I guess if everyone had subsistence farms with some chickens it in theory could be a lot, but not sure if it would be over 10 or not.

Its not like they had efficient shipping or storage back then.