Designed By: Louise KellyPartly Written By: Louise Kelly

Printed By: Ripe Digital, Unit 1, Park Lane Ind Est, Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 9LG

Introduction

Why?Basic AllowanceFood ChartLord WooltonWoolton Pie RecipeDig For VictoryCarrot Cookies RecipeWhale Meat AgainAlternative MeatsSheep's Head Roll RecipeWasteEnd of Rations

TodayTristram Stuart InterviewObesityCarolyn Ekins Interview

ReferencesImage SourcesInformation Sources

pg. 1

pg. 3pg. 7pg. 11pg. 13pg. 16pg. 17pg. 29pg. 31pg. 33pg. 40pg. 41pg. 45

pg. 47pg. 51pg. 55pg. 57

pg. 63pg. 64

Contents

Here in the UK, we have a vast quantity of food readily available to us; from farmer’s markets to corner shops to supermarkets. It’s not likely that you can’t find something you like. In many ways we almost have too much food, if you look in the terms of waste we produce. However if you look back about seventy years you will be able to find a completely different story. This was a time when food supplies were limited and the nation had to take drastic action.

Through this book you will see how during the Second World War our nation survived when food wasn’t so plentiful and drastic action had to be taken. How was it overcome and what we can learn and use ourselves from this hardy time.

Introduction

2

WHY?

4

Every country imports goods, which they can’t make or grow themselves, but at the time the war broke out, Britain relied on other countries to a worrying degree. More than 50 million tons of food was being shipped every year – and that amounted to a staggering 60 per cent of everything we ate.

With the UK being an island it meant that we couldn’t easily be overrun by an invading force like so many European countries were from 1939 onwards, but it also left us dangerously isolated, unless we could control the seas around us. However those waters were patrolled by fast German e-boats carrying guns and torpedoes, while beneath the waves enemy U-boat submarines hunted our merchant vessels in deadly ‘wolf packs’ which would come to the surface at night to fire their torpedoes.

More than

50 MILLION tons of

FOODwas being s

hipped every year

6

More than

50 MILLION tons of

FOODwas being s

hipped every year

TEA

MARGARINE

SUGAR

BACON/HAM

BUTTER

FRESH EGG

PRESERVES

CHEESE

COOKING FAT

SWEETSEVERY MONTH EVERY 2 MONTHS

8

Rations were distributed by weight, monetary value or points. Meat was allocated by price, so cheaper cuts became popular. Points could be pooled or saved to buy pulses, cereals, tinned goods, dried fruit, biscuits and jam. The vitamin welfare scheme was introduced in December 1941. Small children and expectant mothers received cod liver oil and concentrated orange juice (from America). These played a major part in ensuring that children grew up strong and healthy. Small children, expectant and nursing mothers were also entitled to extra milk rations too, as were certain invalids. Often mothers would send their children to queue up for the weekly rations, giving them all the money they could afford, this meant that on more occasions they had no idea what meat they would have until their children had returned.

10

Group 1 Group 2ENERGY FOODS

BODY BUILDING FOODS

Build the body and prevent the tissues

wearing out

MILKCHEESE

EGGSMEATFISH

Many vegetable foods such as peas

and beans, bread and potatoes, help in

bodybuilding; but they are not as good as

these five.

Provide fuel for the body

POTATOESBREADFLOUR

OATMEALRICE

SUGARDRIED FRUIT

HONEYCHEESEBUTTER

MARGARINEDRIPPING

SUETLARD

BACONHAM

FOOD

CHART

12Eat something from each group everyday

Group 3 Group 4

PROTECTIVE FOODS

Give protection from illness

Protection foods are needed for proper nour-

ishment. They build the teeth and bones and

help the body resist infection.

MILKBUTTER

MARGARINECHEESE

EGGSHERRINGSSALMON

LIVER

POTATOESCARROTS

FRUITSALADS

TOMATOESGREEN VEGETABLESWHOLEMEAL BREAD

BROWN BREAD

14

The first food stuffs to be rationed were bacon, butter and sugar, and the list was steadily expanded over the following months and years. By the end of the war it included all meat, tea margarine, jam, cheese, eggs, rice, dried fruit, tinned tomatoes, peas, sweets, chocolate and biscuits. Sausages weren’t rationed but you didn’t always know what the butcher had put in them. (Yes, it could be whale meat!) Lord Woolton, the minister for food at the time, realised that the nation’s health could suffer drastically if people failed to feed themselves properly, so he began a vigorous campaign aimed at the nation’s cooks.

He gathered around him a team of nutritionists and home economists, whose meatless ‘ration-book recipes’, that sounded less than appealing, were broadcast on the BBC radio show called: The Kitchen Front. One of the most famous recipes was ‘Lord Woolton Pie’, created at the savoy hotel by Maitre De Cuisine, Francis Latry and named after the minister of food, Lord Woolton. Although it came in various forms Woolton pie was essentially boiled seasonal vegetables in a simple white herb sauce covered either in pastry or mashed potatoes with a little grated cheese… if you had any.

16

Woo

lton

Pie

prep

arat

ion

tim

e: 4

5 m

inut

es. c

ooki

ng

tim

e: 3

0 m

inut

es 6

– 8

hel

ping

s.

Mos

t peo

ple h

ave t

heir

own

inte

rpre

tatio

n of

this

recip

e. Ba

sical

ly, it

is m

ade w

ith m

ixed

veg

etab

les,

a sa

uce a

nd a

topp

ing,

whi

ch w

as tr

aditi

onal

ly

pota

to p

astr

y.

1lb

dice

d po

tato

es,

1lb

dice

d ca

ulifl

ower

,1l

b di

ced

swed

es,

1lb

dice

d ca

rrot

s,3

– 4

sprin

g on

ions

,1

teas

poon

ful o

f Ve

geta

ble

extr

act,

1oz o

f oat

mea

l or

rolle

d oa

ts,

4oz s

elf-

raisi

ng

flour

,A

pin

ch o

f sal

t,1

– 2o

z fat

,4o

z mas

hed

pota

to

Peel

the v

eget

able

s, di

ce in

to sm

all c

hunk

s and

add

to th

e pan

. Top

and

tail

the s

prin

g on

ions

, cho

p in

to sm

all p

iece

s and

add

to th

e pan

alo

ng w

ith

one

teas

poon

of v

eget

able

extr

act a

nd th

e oat

mea

l or

rolle

d oa

ts. C

over

the v

eget

able

s with

wat

er an

d pl

ace o

n th

e coo

ker t

o bo

il an

d so

ften.

Put t

he fl

our a

nd fa

t in

a m

ixin

g bo

wl,

rub

toge

ther

un

til it

look

s lik

e bre

ad cr

umbs

. Gra

te 2

oz o

f raw

po

tato

es a

dd th

ese t

o th

e mix

ing

bow

l with

a li

ttle

wat

er a

nd w

ork

into

a p

astr

y m

ix (y

ou w

ill n

eed

to w

ork

quic

kly

so th

e pot

ato

does

not

turn

the

past

ry g

rey)

.

Rem

ove t

he v

eget

able

s fro

m th

e coo

ker,

drai

n an

d pl

ace i

n a

pie d

ish. F

lour

the s

urfa

ce a

nd ro

ll ou

t th

e pas

try

to th

e siz

e nee

ded

to co

ver t

he p

ie d

ish.

Plac

e the

pas

try

over

the e

dges

seal

ing

the e

dges

to

the p

ie d

ish,

trim

the p

astr

y an

d m

ake a

few

cut

s in

the p

astr

y to

let o

ut th

e ste

am d

urin

g co

okin

g.

Brus

h th

e sur

face

s with

milk

. Pla

ce in

a m

oder

ate

oven

for h

alf a

n ho

ur.

Dig For Victory

18

In October 1939 the Government launched ‘The Dig for Victory’ campaign. People were urged to use gardens and every spare piece of land, such as parks, golf clubs and tennis courts, to grow vegetables. By November the Phrase Dig for Victory had entered into the public consciousness When the Minister for Agriculture encouraged the project by saying, “Let Dig for Victory be the motto of everybody with a Garden”. Effort was made to promote recycling and good land management. One method that is still used is to build walls in a square and fill this with soil. This allows for deep rooting food plants to be put in tight places not normally available for these types of plants.

An organic approach to gardening was introduced more to increase the yield and nutrition of crops than for environmental reasons, however many of these methods remain in use because they worked so well. The plots also made use of discarded household items. Things like Egg cartons and toilet roll tubes could be used for germinating seedlings and old window frames placed over young plants made good cold frames. Net curtains for netting provided protection for the young from birds and hot sun by deflecting the sun’s rays away from the young plants.

Vegetables such as potatoes and carrots were plentiful, and so they were each given a cartoon character to promote them. Potato Pete, a cheery chappy in knee-length boots with a tiny hat perched on his head, had his own recipe book which included such delightful offerings as potato bread, potatoes on toast, champ (mashed potatoes with cabbage), potato drop scones and potato sandwich spread.

Isn’t an hour in the garden better than an

hour in the queue?lord woolton, minister of food 1941

20

Isn’t an hour in the garden better than an

hour in the queue?

Carrots help you

see in theblackout

22

Carrots help you

see in theblackout

24

Doctor Carrot was every bit as active as Pete, but he went one better by having some family members invented by the famous American animator Walt Disney. These were Pop carrot, Clara Carrot and Carroty George. The official line was that: “Carrots keep you healthy and help you see in the blackout.” True? Well, they contain Vitamin A, and that’s good for your eyes and skin, but if you munch too many of them and you will end up looking the colour of a carrot yourself.

Some people later claimed the ‘seeing in the dark’ myth was a government ploy to hide the secret of British radar from the Germans. Our flying ace ‘Cat’s Eyes Cunningham’ targeted enemy aircraft with the aid of radar beams, but it was useful his deadly aim down to a diet of carrots.

The Ministry of Food encouraged so much extra production that, by January 1942, they were looking for a market for 100,000 tons of carrots that were surplus to consumers’ requirements even at a time when green vegetables were not too plentiful and were expensive in the shops.

The surplus tonnage, was offered to farmers for stock feeding at less than half the price guaranteed to the growers. Interestingly this was also around the time when the Government suggested that the RAF’s exceptional night-flying was due to eating carotene (carrots). Resulting in the consumption of said carrots increasing sharply because people thought they might help them see in the blackout also, thus taking the pressure off other food supplies.

26

100,000 tons of

CARrOTS surplus

to requirements

28

Carrot C

ookiespreparation tim

e: 20 minutes. cooking

time: 15 m

inutes 12 helpings.

The M

inistry of Food propaganda machine

convinced children that carrots on sticks were just

as tasty as ice-creams, that eating lots of carrots

helped you ‘see in the dark’ during blackouts, and that D

r Carrot would m

ake everything better.

1 tablespoon m

argarine,2 tablespoons of

sugar,1 teaspoon of

vanilla essence,

6 tablespoons of self-raising flour,4 tablespoon of

grated raw carrot,

1 tablespoon of w

ater

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Put in a bow

l the sugar, fat and vanilla essence, m

ix together until they m

ake a creamy consistency. Th

en add in the grated carrot, m

ix well. N

ext fold in the flour adding w

ater gradually as it gets dry.

Once it is all m

ixed together drop spoonfuls of the m

ixture evenly onto greased tray and press dow

n a little to flatten. Sprinkle tops of cookies w

ith extra sugar. Place in oven for 10- 15 m

inutes, take out once golden and leave to cool.

30

Grated carrots replaced fruit in a Christmas or birthday cake

Anne ButcherCivilian during WW2

Whale Meat Again

32

Trust the British to make a joke of it: one of the most popular hits of the war years was Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’, and in no time at all the ration-weary public had changed the words to reflect their sorry plight. Yes, for them it was ‘whale meat again’, although you get the impression that nobody happily tucked into it more than once.

But as you favourite food disappeared from the shelves, you had to turn to the available substitutes or go hungry. Not surprisingly, mothers sometimes wouldn’t tell their children what they were eating until the meal was over.

snoek-

Pronounced ‘snook’ this was canned fish (Barracuda) imported from South Africa.

Everyone seems to have hated it.

34

WHALE MEAT-

“Best left swimming in the sea”, was the most common reaction. It is a tough meat and, has

a fishy flavour.

HORSE MEAT-

This had previously been fed only to dogs, so butchers had to put ‘fit for human

consumption’ notices on their counters.

36

SPAM-

Largely made of pork, this arrived from the USA in tins. Many people found it ‘lip-

smacking’ – and you can still buy it today.

OFFAL-

Animals’ innards such as liver, kidneys and tripe. They can be part of a very tasty hotpot, but

the very idea makes some people squirm.

38

SHEEP HEAD-

No, you didn’t eat the head itself, but a flavour some dinner could be made by putting one in

a pot with vegetables.

It would last for 2–3 days so it made most of the rationed meat

Jean MooreCivilian during WW2

40

Shee

p H

ead

Rol

lpr

epar

atio

n ti

me:

45

min

utes

. coo

king

ti

me:

2½

– 3

hou

rs6

– 8

help

ings

.

If yo

u ha

ve n

ever

cook

ed sh

eep’s

hea

d be

fore

you

w

ill b

e deli

ghte

d at

the a

mou

nt o

f mea

t you

can

obta

in fr

om it

and

the t

asty

flav

our o

f the

roll.

The

vege

tabl

es m

ake t

he m

eat g

o fu

rthe

r, as

well

as

addi

ng fl

avou

r.

1lb

dice

d po

tato

es,

1lb

dice

d ca

ulifl

ower

,1l

b di

ced

swed

es,

1lb

dice

d ca

rrot

s,3

– 4

sprin

g on

ions

,1

teas

poon

ful o

f Ve

geta

ble

extr

act,

1oz o

f oat

mea

l or

rolle

d oa

ts,

4oz s

elf-

raisi

ng

flour

,A

pin

ch o

f sal

t,1

– 2o

z fat

,4o

z mas

hed

pota

to

Soak

the

shee

p’s h

ead

in sa

lted

wat

er fo

r a sh

ort

time,

rem

ove

and

put i

nto

a sa

ucep

an w

ith co

ld

wat

er to

cove

r. Br

ing

to th

e bo

il. T

ie th

e he

ad

in a

clot

h, th

is m

akes

sure

the

delic

ate

brai

ns,

whi

ch a

re so

nou

rishi

ng, a

re k

ept w

ith th

e he

ad

in co

okin

g. R

etur

n th

e he

ad to

the

sauc

epan

with

fr

esh

wat

er to

cove

r, an

d th

e vi

nega

r, sp

ices

, her

bs

and

vege

tabl

es. S

easo

n lig

htly.

Cov

er th

e pa

n an

d sim

mer

stea

dily

for 1

½-2

hou

rs, o

r unt

il th

e he

ad

is su

ffici

ently

tend

er to

rem

ove

the

mea

t.

Stra

in th

e st

ock

and

put t

he h

ead

and

vege

tabl

es

on o

ne si

de. R

emov

e th

e m

eat f

rom

the

head

and

th

inly

slic

e th

e to

ngue

. Kee

p th

is se

para

te. M

ince

or

fine

ly ch

op th

e re

st o

f the

mea

t, bl

end

with

the

softe

ned

vege

tabl

es, t

he b

read

crum

bs a

nd th

e flo

ur. S

easo

n to

tast

e.Pre

ss th

e m

eat m

ixtu

re in

to

a lo

ng st

rip w

ith fl

oure

d ha

nds,

arra

nge

the

slice

d to

ngue

dow

n th

e ce

ntre

and

then

form

into

a ro

ll.

Eith

er w

rap

this

in m

arga

rine

pape

r and

clot

h or

pu

t int

o a

larg

e gr

ease

d ja

m ja

r. St

eam

for 1

hou

r.

Allo

w to

bec

ome

cold

, the

n un

wra

p or

turn

out

of

the

jar,

slice

and

serv

e w

ith sa

lad.

Waste during wartime was

not only illegal, it was immoral

as well.Marguerite Patten, food writer.

42

During the war nothing really came that easy for a lot of families, often having to stretch what rations they had in an attempt to feed everyone sufficiently. Many of these families copped with the food shortages by growing small plots of vegetables or by keeping chickens and rabbits for their eggs and meat, this was all part of the dig for victory campaign. The waste of food was forbidden, ‘food’ was described as; ‘anything used by man for food, other than water, and includes any substance which ordinarily enters into or is used in the composition, manufacture or preparation of human food, and includes tea, coffee, and cocoa’. The propaganda that surrounded the subject of food waste was just as persuasive as any other issue related to the war effort, often playing with the reader’s continence making them feel guilty for not taking more care.

As part of a nationwide initiative to help with the production of food, any food scraps form kitchens were collected and delivered to farmers to feed their pigs, this was known as pig’s swill. The scraps were collected in large, heavy metal dustbins they had heavy lids to keep out flies. The bins were spaced out along streets so that each one was shared by a number of households. Factories, hospitals and canteens also had bins. All sorts of food waste went into these bins, from vegetable peelings to scraps of meat, all carried out unwrapped in household buckets or bowls.

44

They had their own farmyard fragrance, hard to describe, but

I can still smell it!Christine Tolton

Remembering the food waste bins

War was over but

46

In 1945 the war had ended, however the hardship was not over yet. Bread and flour, had never been restricted during the war, but were put on the ration list in 1946. There couldn’t have been a more depressing confirmation of something, the British people had already come to realise – that the military victory, however sweet it tasted at the time, it had solved nothing economically. Nothing could be done about it, of course, and potato rationing (also unheard of during the war) was imposed the following year. Things had actually got worse.

It wasn’t until the 4th of July 1954, that rationing came to an end with meat being the last product to come off the restriction. By the end of rationing there was defiantly a relief that it was over, however the generations that lived through this period of our history did learn some valuable lessons.

rationing wasn't.

48

Today.

UK Households waste 25% of all the food

they buy

50

Now in 2013, how has attitude towards food changed? If we were to be plunged into another world war, how would the country have to change to adapt to the pressures of feeding the nation? Well according to a report produced by the ‘Food Standards Agency’ in 2010, the UK is importing around 50 per cent of food consumed. So in many ways we are back to the same situation as before the Second World War, and on top of the reduction in food production in this country, the problem of wasting food has become almost ignored by many people in society today.

Author and Sophie Prize winner 2011 Tristram Stuart’s social conscience was already at work aged 10, when he wrote to McDonald’s saying he was going to stop eating its burgers unless it changed its packaging to something more friendlily to the environment. A month later, a letter came back saying it had

indeed been changed: “It was obviously a total coincidence,” Stuart says with a wry smile, “but I thought, ‘Wow! I have done it!’ It probably gave me a delusionary conviction that individuals can change the world. I still suffer from that!”

Now 34, he is a renowned campaigner on the impact of food production. Three years ago, he published the acclaimed Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal. Before his book, the Cambridge graduate might have been regarded as a maverick by the food industry. Now, his campaign “has a place at the table”. As for his OFM award, he says it provides yet another weapon in his war against waste. ‘’It makes a difference in terms of what I can achieve and that is brilliant.”

His arguments are simple: we buy too much and waste too much. Supermarkets overstock and we overbuy. Therefore, by forcing up prices of wheat on the world food market, we are literally taking food from the starving. Stuart has an array of alarming statistics:

52

UK consumers waste around 25% of their food shopping and if you put into the equation food waste from shops, restaurants, producers and so on, the UK wastes up to half of everything it has. All of this could lift 113 million starving people out of hunger.

But the answer, Stuart argues, is not to send leftovers to Africa or Asia, but rather to stop overproducing, thus avoiding such surplus in the first place as well as reducing the carbon footprint and halting the destruction of forests as a way of extending the agricultural frontier.

There’s also the success of ‘Feeding the 5,000’, where that number of people had a free lunch in Trafalgar Square on food that would otherwise have gone to waste. The event has been copied around the world and in 2011, he received a $100,000 international environmental award, the Sophie Prize.

As a schoolboy in Sevenoaks, Kent, he would hang around the canteen, collecting the wasted food for his pigs: “It’s where my whole obsession with waste started.” Although last year he left the Sussex countryside for Hackney, London, he insists his interests remain pretty much as they were when he was 10. He has an allotment near his home; and while there are no pigs, he has moved his bees to the city, which he says drove them crazy with delight. He still picks mushrooms and fruit and kills wild animals. Not many wild rabbits in Hackney, though, I tell him. He laughs: “Oh you’d be surprised what I can find.”

louise carpenter www.guardian.co.uk

54

Food is a necessity, there is no doubt about that but the way in which so many people in society treat this commodity is becoming increasingly worrying. With the increase in fast and convenient food available we are also seeing a decrease in the welfare of health, to be specific obesity is on the rise to a worrying rate. According to research from the University of Birmingham: “Obesity rates in the UK are the highest in Europe and have increased dramatically over the past few years to such an extent that in excess of 20% of the population are now obese and the costs to the UK economy exceed £3 billion per year.”

A reason for the increase in obesity is the intake high sugar and saturated fats in our diets, found in foods often considered to be a cheaper option. This however in many cases is not true, in fact by planning ahead and buying the raw ingredients for a meal then cooking from scratch, the cost can be greatly reduced. This not only saves money but can also, allow for a healthy diet, increased knowledge and skill of cooking. Carolyn Ekins is someone who is championing this argument, since she carried out her “1940’s Experiment” in an attempt to lose weight and overall become a more healthy and happy person.

Obesity

rates in the

UK are the highest

in Europe

56

Obesity

rates in the

UK are the highest

in Europe

Where did you come up with the idea of the 1940’s Experiment, and can you describe the concept?

I am very interested historically in food and

recipes. Also I really admire the women and families on the home front during WW2, and wanted to experience, in a small way, how they coped and adapted to food on ration. I was extremely curious in the reports that despite food rationing, people’s overall health improved. So several years ago, when I was 39, I gave it a great deal of thought and decided on my 40th birthday I’d attempt to live on an authentic WW2 diet… I lost 57 lbs.

I’d tried all sorts of diets before with limited success and the more I read and researched, the more I became convinced that the solution was simple; eat lots of fresh vegetables, fruit and whole foods, dump the processed and convenience foods, reduce consumption of meat and dairy, start moving around more and get back to cooking from scratch again. How it used to be…

How difficult has it been to follow your diet plan? Do you find that you miss the convenience of modern food? Do you feel that you are missing out or depriving yourself?

Initially, it was very difficult in two ways. Firstly, my body was so used to reaching for junk and convenience food, the first couple of weeks, as my body detoxed itself

58

from its chemical, sugar and sodium addiction, was quite difficult indeed. It felt like I was going cold turkey but then I thought, errr hello, this is NOT good! My body has become addicted to food that is essentially killing me! But I kept my head down and pushed through it and soon, the headaches stopped, the fog lifted and almost immediately I began to feel alive again… it’s hard to explain! Secondly, food preparation takes a long time. Suddenly not relying on convenience foods anymore is quite frankly a shock to the system. But you adapt really quite quickly and now I find that the extra hour it takes to prepare meals is so worth it.

No, I don’t feel I am depriving myself one little bit. Before I was depriving my body of nutrients and was making myself fat and ill. Now I look at this way of life as rewarding my body and myself. My body is happier and I’m much happier!

Rationing during war time forced people to be creative with the food that was available. Do you find that you have become a better and more innovative cook because of this diet?

I would say that I have become more aware of wasting less, making do and making something out of nothing! When someone looks in a cupboard and sees a few carrots, potatoes, an onion, a bit of flour they may think we have nothing to eat in the house whereas I’ll be thinking YUM! Tonight I’m going to create a wonderful Lord Woolton Pie!

Would you recommend the 1940’s diet to those of us struggling to survive on small incomes, and what are the financial benefits of eating this way?

Yes I would! I consistently hear people say that it is cheaper to eat junk food. I disagree… it’s more convenient to eat junk food. Buying healthy prepared food is expensive, however making meals from scratch using healthy in-season supplies isn’t. Being a single parent with a small income, I find eating this way saves me a LOT of money especially when you take into consideration the longer-term health benefits.

On a daily basis I spend no more than $5.00 on food for myself. I mostly drink free water but I do have milk which I use in recipes or to make the odd hot chocolate, and of course the obligatory cup of tea. You can achieve anything once you’ve drunk a nice hot cup of tea!

Do you combine your eating plan with exercise, and what physical activities are your favourites?

Yes I do! If there is anything I have finally grasped, it is that moving one’s body is a vitally important component to becoming healthier, stronger, happier and lighter! The simple act of walking is absolutely the best form of exercise, especially for bigger people who are still mobile. When I started the 1940s Experiment, I was 315 lbs, I was having a horrible crushing lower back pain when standing up and walking which made it impossible for me to walk any further than about 100 meters. So I started walking most days, slowly, and a little bit further each time.

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It was difficult, but each time it got easier, especially as the weight came off. When I lost 25 lbs I had a kind of epiphany which moved me to tears. I had gone for a walk on a glorious autumn day and for the very first time I was pain-free and I was truly able to absorb the beauty of my surroundings.

Some people might consider this a “fad diet” or an unhealthy choice. Is the diet nutritionally sound? What would you say to the sceptics?

This is absolutely NOT a fad diet. It is an experiment to see if following a diet without processed and convenience foods, making healthy food choices like eating all your vegetables and consuming less refined sugar, meat and dairy and being more active has an effect on one’s health – it does in a very positive way. What would I say to the skeptics? Try it…

Pamela S.www.myrebody.com

So now having looked at how the nation had to cope during the Second World War, and at two stories of what people are doing now, look at your lifestyle, do you buy convenience food? Is it really that convenient for your health? It’s not hard to make a meal from scratch at a reasonable price. Many people would say they don’t have time for the preparation, but in reality this is false, if you plan a head, you can have parts ready in advance. Also by planning what you are going to have to eat, you will reduce the amount of possible food waste, this will in turn save money. You have just got to remember some simple rules when it comes to food:

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Buy it with thought

Cook it with care

Serve just enough

Use what is left

Do not waste it

ReferencesInformation Sources1940sexperiment.wordpress.comwww.bbc.co.uk/historywww.birmingham.ac.ukwww. carrotmuseum.co.ukwww.culture24.org.ukwww.guardian.co.ukwww.homesweethomefront.co.ukwww.imp.org.uk www.keepcalmcarryon.me.ukwww.myglyw.org.ukwww.myrebody.comwww.spartacus.schoolnet.co.ukwww.stmgrts.org.ukwww.thebigworld.co.ukwww.the gingerpig.co.ukwww.tristramstuart.co.uk

BooksCooking for Victory, Celebratory Food on Rations – Marguerite Patten OBERations a Very Peculiar History – David Arscott

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Pictureswww.news.bbc.co.ukwww.imp.org.uk www.histomil.comwww.stmgrts.org.uk www.coolkit.e2bn.orgwww.bbc.co.uk/historywww.myglyw.org.uk www.flickr.com (Sendall)www.greenhousepr.co.uk1940sexperiment.wordpress.comwww.myrebody.com

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