RATIONING IN WW2.
By Erin Hartley.
WHY
DID THEY HAVE RATIONING?
Rationing made sure people had a fair amount of
food each week. It made sure no one would go
without food and no one could horde food either. In
addition everyone was allowed 16 points a month to
use on whatever foods they wished.
WHEN DID IT HAPPEN AND WHAT FOODS
WERE RATIONED?
Rationing started 8th January 1940 and ended July
4th 1954. It lasted 14 years! Rationing kept going
even after the war ended.
The first foods to be rationed were bacon, butter
and sugar. Other foods to be rationed were meat,
fish, cheese, tinned tomatoes, rice, jam, tea, eggs,
peas, canned fruits, biscuits, breakfast cereals, milk,
dried fruit, cooking fat, margarine and sweets.
CLOTHES RATIONING.
Surprisingly, food wasn’t the only thing that was
rationed in World War 2, clothes were also
rationed. People were urged to mend their
clothes as much as possible so workers could
make items for the war instead.
Everyone was given a clothing book with
coloured coupons in it. Every item of clothing
had a value in coupons. To buy clothes people
handed over there clothing book to the
shopkeeper who then cuts out however many
coupons the item was valued in. They then
handed over money to pay for the item of
clothing.
INTERESTING SUBSTITUTIONS.
Because food was scarce people started doing weird
substitutions, for example onion & carrot chutney.
Others include rosehip chutney, squirrel tail soup,
crow pie, sheep's head broth, carrot fudge and
patriotic pudding. Also no food was wasted. Apple
peel was a substitute for lemon in jams and drinks,
bacon rinds provided fats for cooking meat and stale
bread was put in pudding or made stuffing.
This was one of my
Great-Grandmas
recipe books for
during the war!
Because of
rationing people
used every part
of the body,
including the
brain!