FOOD RATIONING
W
ith food in short supply, the UK government had to find a way to make sure that what they did have was shared out fairly.
In January 1940, bacon, butter and sugar became the first foods to be rationed. By 1942, most foods were rationed and others were hard to find. People were given ration books and had to register with their local shops, where the shopkeepers marked every purchase in their ration book.
SO WHAT DID EVERYONE EAT?
D
uring the war, people needed recipes and ideas to make food stretch as far as possible. Cookery books and magazines printed ideas for some rather unusual concoctions, such as ‘mock crab’, which contained dried egg, salad cream, cheese, but no crab! There were strict rules about dining out, too. Menus were limited to three courses and there was a maximum charge of five shillings. This meant that restaurants had to serve smaller portions or cheaper food to make a profit. Fortunately, fish and chips weren’t rationed and this quickly became something that everyone enjoyed.
Right: a child’s ration book
A TYPICAL WEEKLY RATION FOR AN ADULT All conversions are approximate.
• 50 g (2 oz) butter • 100 g (4 oz) cooking fat/lard • 225 g (8 oz) sugar • 50 g (2 oz) cheese • meat to the value of 1 shilling and six pence – between 350–450 g (12 oz–1 lb)
• 1 fresh egg • 100 g (4 oz) bacon or ham
• 100 g (4 oz) margarine • 1,200 ml (2 pints) milk • 50 g (2 oz) tea PLUS:
• 16 points per month to ‘spend’ on whatever they wanted such as tinned food, dried fruit and cereals
• 1 packet of 12 dried eggs every four weeks
• 350 g (12 oz) sweets every four weeks • 450 g (1 lb) jam every two months
Carrots became a staple food during the war. They were nutritious, could be grown at home and were naturally sweet. Carrots were often used instead of sugar in recipes such as cakes so the family’s precious sugar ration could be used for other things. To get people to eat more carrots, propaganda posters were made which said they could help you to see in the blackout. Some shopkeepers even popped carrots on sticks and sold them as substitute ice lollies! The ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign encouraged people to grow vegetables and fruit at home and in allotments created in public spaces. Across the country, lawns, tennis courts and even golf courses disappeared to be replaced by neat rows of crops. Leaflets were made giving step-by-step instructions on digging and planting seeds and people were also encouraged to keep chickens and pigs. Left: allotments in Kensington Gardens, London, 1942
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