rationing uk

When thinking about ideas for food revival I thought about the vintage aspect they spoke about in their brief. When I think about vintage and celebrations I think about the war and how there was a great sense of community at this time as everyone had to pull together, I think this is very similar to what food revival do, they bring people together and make the best of a bad situation. 

I then thought about war in relation to food and how at this time food was rationed and people could only buy food if they had a ration book.

Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war.

At the start of the Second World War in 1939, the United Kingdom was importing 20,000,000 long tons of food per year, including about 70% of its cheese and sugar, nearly 80% of fruits and about 70% of cereals and fats. The UK also imported more than half of its meat, and relied on imported feed to support its domestic meat production. The civilian population of the country was about 50 million. It was one of the principal strategies of the Germans in the Battle of the Atlantic to attack shipping bound for Britain, restricting British industry and potentially starving the nation into submission.

To deal with sometimes extreme shortages, the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. To buy most rationed items, each person had to register at chosen shops, and was provided with a ration book containing coupons. The shopkeeper was provided with enough food for registered customers. Purchasers had to take ration books with them when shopping, so that the relevant coupon or coupons could be cancelled.

After the Second World War began in September 1939 the first commodity to be controlled was petrol. On 8 January 1940 bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. This was followed by successive ration schemes for meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs, lard, milk, and canned and dried fruit. In June 1942 the Combined Food Board was set up by the United Kingdom and the United States to coordinate the world supply of food to the Allies, with special attention to flows from the U.S. and Canada to Britain. Almost all foods apart from vegetables and bread were rationed by August 1942. Strict rationing inevitably created a black market. Almost all controlled items were rationed by weight but meat was rationed by price.

Fresh vegetables and fruit were not rationed but supplies were limited. Some types of imported fruit all but disappeared. Lemons and bananas became unobtainable for most of the war; oranges continued to be sold but greengrocers customarily reserved them for children and pregnant women, who could prove their status by producing their distinctive ration books. Other domestically grown fruit such as apples still appeared from time to time, but again the sellers imposed their own restrictions so that customers were often not allowed to buy, for example, more than one apple each. Many people grew their own vegetables, greatly encouraged by the highly successful "Dig for Victory" motivational campaign. In 1942 numerous children between five and seven years old had become used to wartime restrictions. When questioned about bananas, many did not believe such items existed. Game meat such as rabbit and pigeon was not rationed but was not always available. A popular music-hall song, written 20 years previously but sung ironically, was "Yes! We Have No Bananas".During the food rationing, British biologists ate laboratory rats.

Restaurants 

Restaurants were initially exempt from rationing but this was resented, as people with more money could supplement their food rations by eating out frequently. The Ministry of Food in May 1942 issued new restrictions on restaurants:

• Meals were limited to three courses; only one component dish could contain fish or game or poultry (but not more than one of these)
• In general no meals could be served between 11:00 p.m. (midnight in London) and 5:00 a.m. without a special licence
• The maximum price of a meal was 5 shillings, with extra charges allowed for cabaret shows and luxury hotels.

About 2,000 new wartime establishments called British Restaurants were run by local authorities in schools and church halls. Here a plain three-course meal cost only 9d and no ration coupons were required. They evolved from the London County Council's Londoners' Meals Service, which began as an emergency system for feeding people who had been blitzed out of their homes. They were open to all and mostly served office and industrial workers.