Rations and World War II
Carol Harris is the author of recipe book The Ration Book Diet, which contains sixty specially created recipes based on the wartime diet, to enable you and your family to eat more healthily. How much do you know about rations? Carol explains all below.
In September 1939, right at the start of the Second World War, the British governmentintroduced price controls on staple foods including eggs, flour, butter, sugar, and dried fruit. It became the biggest customer for food in the world, bulk-buying basics in order to keep prices down and to control distribution at home.
Shortly after in November, the Ministry of Food announced that rationing would start in January of the following year. The aims were simple: rationing would keep the nation healthy and would prevent the shortages and panic buying which had forced up prices in the First World War (1914-1918). Each person would be guaranteed a regular and affordable, if limited, supply of the essentials.
Everyone was issued with a ration book. People registered at local shops and rations could only be bought if you also had enough coupons in your book to go with your purchase. If not, you had to wait until next week.
At first, only bacon, ham and butter were rationed. For an adult, the weekly allowance was 4oz (225g) of prepared meat, and the same for butter. Soon sugar and all other meat joined the list.
Over the course of the war other essentials, including milk and tea, were added. The quantity of rations varied, according to supplies, and prices of essentials such as eggs were subsidized, so everyone could afford to eat healthily.
Supplies of those foods which were not rationed were not guaranteed, and prices could be high, especially for items which could only be imported. Citrus and tropical fruits such as lemons, oranges, and bananas were rarely seen. In 1944, a London greengrocer proudly displayed a single pineapple, priced at £15. More usually, you might buy, for example, sausages from the butcher, and cakes from the baker. Such items were referred to as ‘under the counter’, as they were not put on display but offered discreetly to favoured customers.
People learned to bulk out rationed foods with vegetables, fruit and bread. The best-known recipe of WW2 was Woolton Pie, named after Lord Frederick Woolton, the popular Minister of Food from 1940-43. He toured Britain to see food demonstrations, give speeches and, inevitably, taste the local version of the pie.
Growing your own food, known as ‘Digging for Victory’ meant that in most homes, plots and windowboxes of fruit, vegetables and herbs replaced flowerbeds and lawns. People reared chickens, ducks and rabbits in garages and back gardens. Eggless and fatless cakes, potato pastry and alternatives to sugar for sweetening such as parsnips and carrots, all became commonplace.
