JUMP TO RECIPE

This blog post is dedicated to my longtime and very dear friend, Pam.

It’s no secret food was rationed during World War II. Fats, sweets, coffee, tea, flour, meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheese and more were strictly limited. Foods that weren’t on the ration were often difficult to find as well. These limits—sometimes severe—called for incredible creativity. After long hours of war-related work, weary Home Front warriors had to keep food boredom at bay while always considering the wellness of their families.

Wartime governments were acutely aware of the importance of civilian health.  Robust energy equal to demanding schedules in often unhealthy environments, was a high priority. A nation of citizens on poor diets would become sluggish or diseased and unable to support troops. For this reason, both governments and companies sought to educate and guide homemakers in keeping their families in top physical form. Without a vast array of supplements and pharmaceuticals, how did they manage to keep well—especially during the long winter months?

Basic Health Boosters

Garlic and onions could be grown in Victory Gardens and used individually, as well as syrups made from garlic and onion steeped in honey. Chicken broth and beef tea were often called for. There were a few supplements: Vimms vitamins and minerals for increased energy, and Smith Brothers cough drops and Vicks Va-tro-nol for coughs and colds.

Dressing properly was another wartime strategy. There were many ads for wool undergarments such as Munsingwear. Being at war apparently did nothing to stifle the everyday citizen’s desire to look pulled together and attractive, so these ads made sure to emphasize how effective and attractive wool could be.

Ads for stockings in revolutionary new materials—thanks to silk being diverted for parachute production—and practical clothing were in abundance. Rationing extended to fabrics and there were very limited ration points available for new clothing. Older, more extravagant styles with pleats and excess fabric were illegal in some nations. Skirts and dresses became shorter and more utilitarian. Suit lines were cut straighter. Maximum style—and practicality—with minimal cloth was the order of the day.

By far, the most emphasis was placed on food ingredients and cooking methods. Homemakers were expected to put together meals that included the correct variety of foods for complete nutrition, day in and day out, with zero waste. In England, the Ministry of Food produced flyers, radio broadcasts and cooking demonstrations to assist.

Following World War I, the British government realized how many millions had been able to purchase only enough calories to survive but not to meet all nutritional needs. Rationing not only helped keep a steady supply of basic foods available but also ensured every person would have enough food for complete nutrition. Great emphasis was placed on teaching food values. Instead of advertising pills, powders or superfoods, the government encouraged homemakers to include the right foods every day.

Wartime Food Categories for Health

Foods were generally categorized as Building (bones, muscle tissue and blood supply), Protective (against illness and providing disease resistance) or Energy (supplying fuel to the body). Homemakers were repeatedly shown ways to include foods from each of these categories at each meal. Potato Pete and Dr. Carrot became familiar friends.

Milk and cheese were among the Building Foods and though strictly rationed, each person was urged to consume his or her full share to get enough calcium. Legumes, vegetables, cereals, nuts, dried fruits, grains and limited animal foods provided protein and iron. People were encouraged to “stretch” animal foods with vegetables to get enough protein and minerals.

Protective Foods included cod liver oil, butter, carrots, leafy green vegetables, liver, whole grain wheat and oats, potatoes and the newly developed margarine (eek!). These provided vitamins as well as digestive and nervous system support. Special emphasis was placed on eating potatoes and carrots. These two vegetables could be grown abundantly at home. Carrots helped maintain the health of the throat, lungs, skin and eyes. These were of special importance during years of blackouts, bombings and crowded bomb shelters. Potatoes provided the all-important vitamin C, the antidote to scurvy.

Without fat or sugar, starchy potatoes and other vegetables helped fill hungry bellies. The government gave extra sugar rations to home canners during the summer months so ripening local fruits could be stored as jams and jellies for winter. Homemakers were taught that cooking vegetables in the smallest possible amount of water would preserve more of the vitamins; that shredded vegetables would cook faster and use less fuel; and that placing small vessels of different vegetables inside a larger cooking pot would cook everything at once, using only one burner and less fuel.

Meticulous instructions were given on how to grow and preserve the Victory Garden harvest, how to use up any leftover bits, and how much of each kind of vegetable individuals needed to eat each day. Lots of recipes were provided to aid exhausted homemakers.

“The Radio Doctor” broadcast several talks on wartime diet that proved popular. Dr. Charles Hill’s talks were cheerful, humorous and helpful. I especially like his talk, “How to Feed a Fever.” Here is an excerpt of his advice:

“Here are the rules for feeding , when there’s no doctor in attendance, as for example, if you have a cold. Plenty of starchy or sugary foods. I mean, for example, rice or semolina, and mashed potatoes with gravy. Drink milk, egg and milk, and milk flavoured with tea. Within reason eat what you fancy, if you have got it. For breakfast or tea, make it bread and milk or porridge and a scrambled egg. For dinner mashed potatoes and gravy and milk [pudding], and some steamed fish if you can get it. If the appetite’s poor, titillate it with some beef tea, unless there’s diarrhoea. Don’t drink beef tea in diarrhoea.

If you are chesty, take your food hot. If there are colly-wobbles in your tummy, cut out the solids but take plenty of warm water. Keep off meat while your temperature is up. And drink plenty of water. At one time a little brandy was the commonest medicine for the patient and sometimes for the nurse. Those days are gone.”

My favorite is colly-wobbles. I’m not entirely certain what those are but they sound much better than diarrhoea and might benefit from a small cup of homemade beef tea in addition to the prescribed water.

My dear friend, Pam, recently gave me The New Household Discoveries edited by Sidney Morse. This 1917-edition cookbook, published near the end of the First World War, includes a recipe for beef tea that would have been a welcome comfort during World War II. I will leave the recipe for it here in case you need to beef up your own winter wellness.

REFERENCES

Norman, Jill. Eating for Victory: Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations. Reproductions of Official Second World War Instruction Leaflets. London: Michael O’Mara Books Limited, 2007.

Wise Eating in Wartime: From the Ministry of Food’s ‘Kitchen Front’ Broadcasts. London: Imperial War Museums, 2015.

Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jane. The Ministry of Food: Thrifty Wartime Ways to Feed Your Family Today. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., 2010.

Vicks advertisement. Life Magazine. Vol. 18 No. 5 (January 29, 1945): 66.

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.”

3 John 2