Food during the Second World War

Great Britain had not been self sufficient for food since the 18th century. It had been increasingly dependant upon imported food to feed the population, much of which came from the countries of the Empire and from the USA. It was mostly transported by sea. Because shipping routes had been blocked in the First World War, people were worried that it would happen again. The fear that the population would starve was very real, so the government took steps to increase food production. Rationing was introduced to ensure that everybody had a fair share of basic food.

Organisation

By 1938, war seemed very likely. The government began to control food. Ration books were produced and a registration system was created. The Minister of Food was Lord Woolton. He announced that although it was impossible to ensure that everyone had the same food, he would make sure that people would have the minimum amount of food necessary to stay healthy.

In Clacton, the Urban District Council was instructed by the Ministry of Food to raise a Local Food Control Committee and to open an Area Food Office. This would then oversee the supply of food in the town. The committee was made up of ten people representing all classes of consumer. The Area Food Office was in the Town Hall.

Timescale

At the end of September 1939, ration books were issued. The imminent introduction of food rationing was announced at the beginning of November, and people were told to register with their chosen suppliers before 23 rd November. The normal adult ration book was buff-coloured, green books were issued to pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 5. Children between 5 and 16 years of age had a blue ration book. Rationing of bacon, ham, butter and sugar began on 8th January 1940. Meat rationing was introduced on 11th March and other foods soon followed. In July 1940, tea, margarine, cheese and cooking fats were rationed. It became illegal to serve protein in more than one course in a meal in restaurants. By 1941, the supply of food was still very limited and further rationing was introduced. In May 1941 the cheese ration was reduced, by June eggs were rationed and by November so was milk. National dried milk became available in December 1941. Also in that month, a points system was introduced. This added to the basic rations. In 1942 there were more restrictions on food. After the 6 th April white bread was no longer available and in June dried eggs replaced fresh ones. In 1945 whale meat became available in fish shops, together with snoek (barracuda).

Food rationing lasted right through the war and well into the 1950s. Sweets were the last things to be taken off of rationing, in 1954.

Rations: Click on either image to see a larger version of both (opens in new window)

How rationing worked

Every member of the public was issued with a ration book. Each family or individual had to register with a local supplier from whom the ration would be bought. These details were stamped in the book and you could only buy your ration from that supplier. The ration was (in theory) always available and at the point of purchase the relevant coupons were cut from the book. The number of coupons required varied according to the availability of food. The cut out coupons were kept by the retailer. In addition to the ration coupons, the ration books contained a number of ‘points' coupons. These were used to buy other foods to supplement the basic food ration and could be used in any shop. Some foods were not rationed (e.g. vegetables) although there were often shortages of them. Prices were carefully controlled to prevent people from profiteering. The colour of your ration book was very important. Holders of the green ration books went to the front of queues and had the first choice of oranges and bananas (if there were any!), a daily pint of milk and a double supply of eggs. Children's blue books gave access to fruit, the full meat ration and half a pint of milk a day.

A ration book

The Ration

The food ration varied slightly from month to month as foods became more or less plentiful. The following list is a good example of the weekly adult ration around 1940.

Bacon and ham 4oz (100g)

Meat To the value of 1 shilling 2 pence (about £2.80 in today's money). Sausages were not rationed but were hard to get. Offal was mostly not rationed, and only sometimes formed a part of the ration.

Butter 2oz (50g)

Cheese Between 2oz (50g) and 8oz (225g) depending on availability.

Margarine 4oz (100g)

Cooking fat 4oz (100g) often reduced to 2oz (50g)

Milk 3 pints, often reduced to 2 pints. Household milk (powdered) 1 packet or tin every 4 weeks

Sugar 8oz (225g)

Preserves (jam or jelly) 1lb (450g) every 2 months

Tea 2oz (50g)

Eggs 1 fresh egg, if available. Sometimes 1 every 2 weeks. Dried egg 1 packet or tin every 4 weeks

Sweets 12oz (350g) every 4 weeks (about 1 of today's chocolate bars per week)

Other sources of food

Home Grown

The Ministry of Food encouraged everybody to grow their own food. The ‘Dig For Victory' campaign was enthusiastically taken up. Those with gardens turned the flower beds into vegetable patches. All local authorities gave up parks and other open spaces to be used as allotments by those with no gardens of their own.

Pigs and Poultry

Communities were encouraged to form ‘Pig Clubs' and keep pigs. The pigs were fed on kitchen scraps together with a ration of ‘pig meal'. When the pig was full grown, it was killed under Ministry arrangements. The Ministry took half of the meat for the national pool and the club members shared the other half. They had to give up part of their meat ration in exchange. Families were encouraged to keep chickens in their back gardens. These were also fed on kitchen scraps along with ‘chicken meal' which was available in exchange for the egg coupon.

Free Country Food!

People living in the country were fortunate to have an almost unlimited supply of free food. Hedgerow fruits were collected in season and turned into jam (if people could get the sugar) or bottled. Hazel nuts, walnuts and chestnuts were collected. Horse chestnuts, beech nuts and acorns were collected for pig feed. Rose hips were gathered and sold to chemists for making into rose hip syrup. This was very high in vitamin C and was given to children. Then there were rabbits. Farmers were happy to let people kill the rabbits on their land because they ate and damaged the farmers' crops. There are many country families who remember living on rabbit pies and stewed apples for most of the war!

Some wartime recipes you can try - Click or hover your mouse over the title of the recipe to see a picture

The Oslo Meal

This is a meal for the whole family. It was originally given to school children to promote their health and development. The meal consists of: salad, bread and butter (or margarine), a glass of milk and a piece of cheese.

Hard time Omelette

Cooking time – 12 minutes

Serves – 4 people

1 ½ oz cooking fat

4 medium potatoes, cooked and sliced

2 small rashers of bacon, chopped

3 eggs or reconstituted dried egg powder (powder made into liquid)

1 ½ tablespoons of water

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the fat in a large frying pan. Fry the potatoes and bacon together until crisp. Beat the eggs with water and seasoning and then pour over the potatoes and bacon. Cook until set firm. Serve at once.

Chocolate Biscuits

2oz margarine

1 tablespoon syrup, warmed

1 oz cocoa powder

4oz flour

2oaz sugar

¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Melt the margarine and syrup in a pan. Mix in the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and vanilla essence. Beat the mixture and then turn out of the pan onto a floured board. Roll to biscuit thickness and cut into squares. Put the squares onto a baking tray and bake in a moderate oven for 15 minutes. The biscuits can be sandwiched together with chocolate spread to make them more tasty.

The leaflet shown below was produced during the war to suggest ways of making special Easter treats: