Rationing

[ScottishJohn]

I was at the imperial war museum recently, and was thinking about rationing. Then I saw a programme about rationing on TV recently.

Britain has never had such a healthy diet as when we were forced to by rationing during WWII and afterwards.

The dieticians who developed rationing tested the system (which in its time was hugely contraversial) by putting themselves on the rationed diet, and then cycling from london to the lake district and spending several weeks hill climbing to prove that they were fit and healthy. (interestingly the british scientists tested themselves. The american scientists tested it on mental patients and the german scientists experimented on jews.)

Which led me to thinking, wouldn't it be interesting if we tried it now. (I have no illusions about this actually happening - we're far too soft as population to brook any interference with our luxuries, but the idea interests me.) It would solve obesity, reduce pressure on the NHS from other diet related illnesses. It would make our food requirements in the UK more sustainable and environmentally sound. It would mean it was necessary for people to cook properly for themselves again.

Like I said, it will never happen, but do other people find it interesting or am I on my own?!

 

[mercyreigns]

It would be interesting, it was a radically different way of eating.

 

[tansy]

yes, i've always thought it might be interesting to try, but ive never got round to actually finding out exactly what the rations were.

 

[Gareth]

One thing is for sure, prices for basic things would go up. So much of our food is not "home-grown" anymore. A casual look through the fresh and frozen sections of most supermarkets will show this to be the case. As an example, sweetcorn from India, broccoli from Belgium, sprouts from Poland (all frozen), pork from Denmark, beef from Ireland and so on (ooh, and apples from France!!).

Our diet would be vastly different from what we currently have. All we need is the right conditions and it might happen. There would initially be an outcry and haggis might become more widespread and eaten more often. If so, fantastic!!

 

[LondonMatt]

It went on for years after the war, my Mum remembers sweets still being rationed when she was a little girl in the fifties.

 

[ScottishJohn]

Yup Rationing carried on until 1954.

Here are the amounts per week:

Food rations

* 4 oz (113 g) bacon or ham
* 8 oz (230 g) sugar
* 2 oz (57 g) loose tea (teabags were not used widely in the UK)
* 1 s 2d (approximately 1 lb 3 oz (540 g)) of meat (offal and sausages were only rationed from 1942-1944.[5])
* 2 oz (57 g) cheese (vegetarians were allowed an extra 3 oz (85 g) cheese[6])
* 3 imp pt (1.7 l) milk per week for priority to expectant mothers and children under 5; 3+1/2 imp pt (3.3 l) for those under 18; children unable to attend school 5 imp pt (2.8 l), certain invalids up to 14 imp pt (8.0 l)/ Each consumer got or one tin of milk powder (equal to 8 imperial pints (4,500 ml; 150 US fl oz)) every 8 weeks.
* 1 lb (0.45 kg) preserves or 2 lb (0.91 kg) marmalade or 1 lb (0.45 kg) sugar
* 2 oz (57 g) butter
* 4 oz (110 g) margarine
* 2 oz (57 g) lard
* 2oz(50g)later 4oz (100g)sweets

Eggs were rationed and "allocated to ordinary consumers as available"; in 1944 thirty allocations of one egg each were made. Children and some invalids were allowed three a week; expectant mothers two on each allocation.

* 1 egg per week or 1 packet (makes 12 "eggs") of egg powder per month (vegetarians were allowed two eggs)
* plus, 24 “points” for four weeks for tinned and dried food.

Arrangements were made for vegetarians so that their rations of meat were substituted with other goods.~[4][7]

 

[theFijian]

mmm lard. what about cereals? ie. no oats?

 

[ScottishJohn]

mmm lard. what about cereals? ie. no oats?

I don't think cereals were rationed. Like bread for example - until after the war bread wasn't rationed. I don't suppose we ate as much cereal at that time. More bacon and eggs. Could be why we started eating more cereal?!

 

[tansy]

It doesnt say anything about fish being rationed? But I should have thought it might have been a bit dodgy going out to sea fishing during the war?

Some of those rations don't seem too bad...I don't eat a lot of meat myself...and I can't eat eggs..at least, I have an intolerance to eggwhite - it's the cheese that I would have a problem with..only 2 oz! Still, it would be intersting to try and follow that....it probably is more healthy to have not much cheese.
I wonder if there were plenty ov vegetables available, cos I'm wondering if, though certain things might not have been rationed, maybe there still might have been less availability. I know for example that bananas and oranges were hard to come by.
I wonder what the average person's daily diet was?
I've heard that some of the recipes they had were pretty horrible, and some of the bread was too,,,,so I dont think it was just the rationing in itself that made life difficult.

 

[Gareth]

One of the only foods not to be rationed was fish and chips. If you had the money you could of had fish and chips every night. With sweets and chocolate rationed dentists were very happy because teeth were in such good order. I think the BBC did a series a long time ago with gardener Harry Dodson about life and living during the War years. The simplicity of life like cooking a pot meal using only a wooden box and damp grass seem quaint to many of us now. But there always lies the chance of power cuts like was experienced by people of my generation during the seventies happening even now.

The problem for the future is that Government is slow as to trying to find ways to ease possible energy shortages or rationing. If from say the 1st September all new houses had to have solar panels fitted the effect would be immediate. The amount of energy produced is minimal but it would force the price of solar panel technology down so that many more people and not a minority could help bridge a possible energy gap. The resources are all around us and yet few have the ability to take real advantage of them.