In most societies throughout history there has been a seemingly ineluctable connexion between women and the domestic duties of food preparation. There is an interesting literature on the role of women as gatekeepers in deciding which foods are suitable for their families to eat. The nineteenth century was an important threshold for gendered spaces and roles. The rapid growth of suburbs created areas that were female-dominated, during the daytime at least, and middle class prosperity facilitated an increase in the number of housewives who were specialized home-makers. The invention of domestic science as part of the compulsory education system at the end of that century also formalized the notion of the kitchen as the womans domain and explicitly excluded boys from any obligation to learn about cooking. According to Quisumbing, women farmers in poor countries face a number of constraints that reduce their productivity.