And people simply didn't eat early in the morning. It was dark out till 7 or 8am, the room was pitch black and often freezing cold, they'd just woken up and had morning chores and/or Mass soon after. You don't eat before morning Mass, and it took place at 9 am or even later (depending upon how far the congregation had to travel to get to the church, some walked a long way and it was often dark out) and lasted for over an hour, and then you had to walk back home to eat.

In the convents and monasteries, they ate lunch and dinner during the long summer and harvest days and only dinner during the winter, Lent, and on Wednesdays and Fridays. They made an exception for novices, giving them always an extra, earlier meal, because otherwise the hungry teenagers would gorge so much at dinner that they'd fall asleep or vomit everything right back up. 😅