Diet in Wartime
The Role of Food During WWII
The role of the Ministry was two fold; firstly to ensure that there was enough food to go around through rationing; then to manage the constraints of this through educating the public on how to make the most of the food available for a fit and healthy life.
Wartime - Food Facts
The Ministry of Food regularly promoted advice and recipes through their leaflets ‘Food Facts’. This was targeted towards a population (mainly housewives) who were trying to balance their families’ nutritional needs.
Very little waste would be found in the wartime kitchen – fats from bacon rind and meat were used to add flavour to soups and apple skin became a lemon substitute in jams. The stock piling of food, common before the war, was made a punishable offence.
The use of very basic, yet effective, root vegetables as the basis for a daily diet were encouraged through regular bulletins on a radio programme called the ‘Kitchen Front’. The promotions encouraged people to eat potatoes and carrots every day in a different way to protect them from illness and fatigue. They were also encouraged to grow their own and self sufficiency was promoted. ‘Dig for Victory’ became a common slogan known to a public determined to make the best of what they had
Sample recipes can be found in the article Health Root Vegetables.
The potato had previously been seen as quite a delicacy but this was not the first time the tuber had been used as a defence mechanism. Napoleon is reported to have once planned to starve England through its absence.
The humble spud was an important part of the daily diet as not only is it an important source of energy but it also was considered a ‘protective food’ which would help to protect against illness. Potatoes were also cheap and easy to grow.
Sample recipes can be found in the article The Humble Potatoe
Wartime - Health Facts
- Eating habits improved greatly during WWII, when both the rich and the poor were eating the same diet. This had a direct impact on the health of the nation.
- The promotion of a balanced diet, with increased vegetables and reduced white bread and flour meant that people ate better and were therefore healthier
- There was a reduction in maternal deaths during the war as supplies of milk and orange juice were provided to pregnant women
- The Ministry of Food ensured that every child had a vitamin boost through the provision of daily milk, cod-liver oil and orange juice. Free meals were also provided to children from poorer families
- British restaurants were set up in schools and church halls for workers to access meals at a reasonable cost to make sure people were properly fed. Minced beef with carrots and parsnip was a popular dish of this time
- There was a fall in tooth decay due to reduced access to sweets and sugar, this also impacted on the number of people overweight.
- Because of the shortage of petrol, a large number of the population resorted to walking. This, along with the type of jobs undertaken to support the war effort, meant that most people got lots of regular exercise.
- The mass evacuation of children exposed hidden poverty and in return increased the health of many children. Diseases caused by malnutrition and poor housing conditions were uncovered, including scabies, impetigo and lice.
The fairness of the rationing system and the health advice provided by the Ministry of Food meant that poor families managed better than in peacetime. Rationing of food did not end until July 1954, a long time after peace had been secured.
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