Wartime Rationing: a recipe for a healthy diet?
- Marcelina Palamar
- Sep 12, 2023
- 4 min read
I do feel slightly out of place writing a piece on the accidental benefits of wartime rationing when I find myself in the culinary heaven that is Paris, eating a fresh pain au chocolat for breakfast every day, treating myself to Italian gelato in a pitiful attempt to cool down, and exploring a new cuisine every week – but perhaps it is my own conscience reminding me that food, fundamentally, is for survival and energy, rather than the indulgence of my taste buds. And yet, it is precisely this kind of culinary luxury that the fortunate now have access to in Western Europe which makes the food rationing of wartime England seem all the more austere. But despite any negative associations we may possess regarding the average British meal during the Second World War, it turns out that the food rations helped many people’s diets become healthier.
Conflict is a persistent feature of human life. It was there before us, is here now, and will most likely continue to exist in the future. What is surprising, however, is that despite technological advances in warfare – from sophisticated intelligence capabilities to precision missiles - the reality for affected civilians is painfully familiar across centuries and countries. Agriculture – both on a national and local level – is often one of the first activities to be undermined by warfare, with food workers mobilised, valuable food resources sent to the front, and fields and factories destroyed or occupied.[1] The employment of humanitarian aid is challenging in conflict zones, and what often makes the matter worse is a deliberate restriction of food by the hostile party. We might even say that food is the first casualty of war.
"The overall health of the nation was deemed to be better in 1945 than in 1939"
These reasons are why the British population, across all socioeconomic levels, underwent a drastic change in its eating habits during the Second World War. The result? – a diet healthier than either before or after the conflict. Because the British Isles are surrounded by sea, the United Kingdom was historically able to increase its imports using maritime routes from European countries and colonies. With war at their doorstep, however, this became an issue – questions surrounding the rationing of food imports (only around 30% of consumed food was produced in Britain[2]) at a time of constrained shipping, the domestic production of food, effective distribution of food, and what constituted a nutritional diet, all had to be answered- and quickly.
Women played a significant role in fighting against the food crisis. No, not as housewives. Though yes, they still did that. Outside of home, women mobilised the Women’s Land Army to increase the agricultural labour force, which trained women to work in fields and drive agricultural machinery. Before, such occupations were only reserved for men - in replacing men, women not only increased much-needed labour during wartime but also proved that they were capable of much more domestic tasks.
More generally, the public was encouraged to increase food production by making use of their home environments – chickens and rabbits began making an appearance in gardens, allotments boomed, and you could even raise a pig with your neighbour.[3]Nothing was wasted, either – all food scraps and waste were given to animals or re-distributed amongst the community. The ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign tirelessly promoted by the government encouraged all citizens to dig up public parks, railway embankments, road verges and gardens to cultivate food.[4]
Despite this collective enthusiasm, rationing began in January 1940, with meat, bacon, and sugar being the first food products unavailable to buy. Even the Royal Family was included in the rationing scheme, causing people to feel more inclined to consider the scheme ‘fair’. (Though I have my suspicions that they actually had to go without sugar in their tea). Not all food was rationed – bread, potatoes, coffee, fruit (other than citrus) and fish could all be bought – although this did not mean it was readily available.
"In replacing men, women not only increased much-needed labour during wartime but also proved that they were capable of much more domestic tasks."
The newly founded Ministry of Food ensured that the public received plenty of nutritional information – from the BBC broadcast ‘The Kitchen Front’ and its collection of wartime recipes such as Woolton Pie (all-veggie ‘pie’ topped by a mashed potato), to groups of women distributing nutritional advice and community-shared recipes, including a ‘butterless, milkless, eggless cake’, the public was far from ignorant about what made up a proper diet. The aim of the Ministry, in short, was to ensure a minimum nutrient intake compatible with health.[5]
And so, the diet as a whole was actually more nutritionally balanced than it has been before. People ate less animal protein, but more cereal and milk protein. Fat intake was reduced but, interestingly, the percentage of energy from fat during the war years (around 33 per cent) was similar to the percentage that is now recommended for health. Although foods became ‘less palatable’, after the Second World War, the nutrition policy programme was deemed highly successful – as compared to the failures of France and Germany, for instance – and the overall health of the nation was deemed to be better in 1945 than in 1939.
The new diet had wide-ranging positive effects – from healthy growth in children to an increase in the average age at which people died from natural causes. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt in this. Growing our own produce and being mindful about what we consume can be just as beneficial in a contemporary environment. Although in all honesty, I can’t say I would pick a butterless, milkless, eggless cake over an ice cream if I had a choice…
[1] Food in Zones of Conflict : Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives, edited by Paul Collinson, and Helen Macbeth, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cam/detail.action?docID=1644362.).
[2] https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/british-wartime-rationing.html
[3] Williams, C.A., Taylor, R. and Martin, J. (2012) Wartime Farm , Open University, Milton Keynes. www.birmingham.gov.uk ‘ Lest we Forget’ Online Exhibition . Published at: http://www. birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=Lib-Central-Archives- and-Heritage%2FPageLayout&cid=1223092756358&pagename=BCC%2FCommo n%2FWrapper%2FWrapper.
[4] Food in Zones of Conflict : Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives, edited by Paul Collinson, and Helen Macbeth, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cam/detail.action?docID=1644362.
[5] Huxley, R.R., Lloyd, B.B., Goldacre, M. and Neil, H.A.W. (2000) Nutritional research in World War 2: The Oxford Nutrition Survey and its research potential 50 years later, British Journal of Nutrition , 84: 247– 251.
