Food render or food rent (Old English: foster)[1] was a form of tax in kind (Old English: feorm)[2] levied in Anglo-Saxon England, consisting of essential foodstuffs provided by territories such as regiones, multiple estates or hundreds to kings and other members of royal households at a territory's royal vill.
[2] The early medieval British Isles lacked the sophisticated trade in essential foodstuffs that had supported the urban economies of Roman Britain, and which would be necessary to support large agriculturally unproductive households remaining static in a single location.
[3] Kings and their entourages therefore constantly toured the subdivisions of their kingdoms, staying at networks of royal properties where they could expect to be supported by the territory's inhabitants.
[4] Food renders consisted of the varied range of foodstuffs that constituted a balanced diet[5] and were consumed within the donor's territory.
[8] Customary food renders in England declined through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as currency became more readily available.