WW2 Ration Diet

At the start of World War 2 in 1939, the UK imported 20,000,000 tons of food each year. One of the main strategies of the Germans was to attack the shipping routes to prevent the food reaching us and potentially starve our nation.

So the government introduced rationing almost immediately. This lasted until well after the war had finished and ended in 1954.

I've been following blogger Carolyn Ekins of the 1940s Experiment, the1940sexperiment.com in which she follows strict rationing in a bid to lose weight and save money. Carolyn has produced over 160 original recipes that were commonly made during WW2. She provides hint and tips on how to save money and waste nothing.

This has inspired me to do my own experiment. I am interested in finding out the average daily calorie intake and what effect psychologically a diminished diet can do. It will also encourage me be more creative with my foods and less wasteful. So over the next 7 days (maybe longer) I will be living on wartime rations.

So what will I be eating?

Well I have been a vegetarian for the past two years, so this should make this experiment a lot easier as during the war meat was reduced dramatically. The Ministry of Food actively encouraged meat free recipes and eating more vegetables to increase vitamin intake to make up from the loss of other foods. At that time vegetarians were given more of certain food stuffs to make up for the fact they were not having meat and made the system fairer. For my experiment I will not be doing that as I cannot seem to find any document which explains what was given instead. So I will be substituting meat for vegetarian meat alternatives such as soya and quorn.

So here is what I'll be having for one week;

WW2 RATIONS MY RATIONS

Bacon and Ham 4oz Veggie Sausage 4oz

Meat to the value of 1 shilling 6d (1/2 lb) Meat alternative ½ lb

Butter 2oz Coconut oil 2oz

Margarine 4oz Margarine 4oz

Cooking Fat 4oz Vegetable cooking oil 200ml

Cheese 2oz Cheese 2oz

Sugar 8oz Sugar 8oz

Egg 1 Egg 1

Milk 3 pints Plant milk 3 pints

Tea 2oz Tea/coffee 2oz

Preserves 1lb every 2 months Preserves 1lb every 2 months

Sweets 12oz every 4 weeks Chocolate 12oz every 4 weeks

In addition to this each person was also allocated 16 points per month to spend on tinned goods such as tinned fish, 2ils of dried fruit or 2lbsdried split peas. Note: only one can of tinned food was bought for 16 points. So you had to choose wisely.

I have decided to spend my 16 points on dried fruit.

So with all of my rations planned out, I started this morning.

Breakfast: Porridge made with water, a splash of milk and 1/2 dsp of strawberry jam.

Coffee with milk

175 kcal

Lunch: Cheese, chutney and salad sandwich.

1 plum.

345 kcals

When I got home from work: Cup of tea with a splash of milk (no sugar)

2 chocolates

130 kcals

Dinner: Root vegetable stew.

Stewed apple with dried fruit.

261 kcals

The overall calorie consumption was 911. This is fairly low. So tomorrow I must make sure I have something extra. When I weighed out my week's allowance of cheese this morning I nearly cried. I am used to having so much more than that. As I made my lunch for work I heavily spread on the courgette and apple chutney (homemade) and then lightly sprinkled half of the grated cheese on top. I opted for mature cheddar as it has a stronger taste and I was hoping that I wouldn't notice there was less. It wasn't that bad. I think I'll use less in the future.

For dinner I had prepared a Root vegetable stew and cooked it in my slow cooker while I was at work. I put in it pearl barley, which was the first time I have ever cooked with it. It made the meal really filling and hearty. I flavoured it with fresh rosemary from my garden. I even had some left over for my work lunch tomorrow. If you are interested in making this yourselves then have a look in my recipes page.

I'm now about ready to go to bed. I am tired and slightly hungry. I'm not sure if my hungriness is genuine or because I am tired. So I will drink a large glass of water and head on up wooden hill to Bedfordshire. xxx

#ww2food