Firstly, let us be quite clear that I am not advocating rationing. I am suggesting that it might be a way of tackling the ever-increasing problem of obesity. Now I've made myself quite clear I shall address your comments.
Niecie Quote ["You miss the point - the availability and cost were issues back in 1939. They aren't now, not in such immediate way anyway. Back then food simply wasn't getting through and there was not the manpower to produce more in this country (with a large part of the workforce in the forces)."] End quote.
As to your comments about food not "getting through" a large percentage of imported goods was indeed lost at sea. However, in order to deal with these losses the British Government introduced certain policies to help the country to feed itself, for example the "Dig for Victory" campaign which was implemented from the commencement of the war. This encouraged the utilisation of every spare piece of ground, including ornamental parks and gardens and created additional allotments for people to use. In agriculture the Women's Land Army replaced those farm labourers who had joined up. Rationing was introduced whereby each householder registered with their local shops which were then supplied with goods based on the number of customers they had on their books. That is the historical context.
Niecie Quote ["I was asking how you would instigate a rationing system now, not in 20 or 30 years time when it might (or might not) become necessary for practical reasons" End quote.
Given that the wording of this thread's title and its OP was purely a suggestion I am not planning to instigate anything. However, in this hypothetical scenario under discussion and supposing such a scheme was ever adopted, similar techniques to those used during WW2 could, perhaps, be employed. This would necessitate people being required to register at either their local shops or at a nearby supermarket. Individuals would then have to make the choice as to which of the large retailers they would utilise. I suppose that if such a scheme was ever adopted the Government of the day could, if it wished, legally exert control over the supermarkets!
Niecie Quote ["What are you going to base your rationing system on?"] End quote.
I repeat I'm not going to do anything. I am merely suggesting what may take place in a hypothetical situation, but to answer your question, the calorific requirements of each individual would be assessed. Hence certain groups of people would be entitled to specific additional rations while those with dietary problems would likewise be accommodated.
I repeat, yet again, just in case anyone's forgotten, that this thread was merely a suggestion. I was simply proposing a possible way of combating the excessive consumption of unnecessary food substances now being actively promoted by food manufacturers, retailers, and advertisers.
Regarding your comment that availability and costs are not so much of an issue, in point of fact they are still very much an issue. The crux of the matter is that the large supermarkets now have a stranglehold on agriculture and farming in both Britain, and in many other parts of the world, because they are the main wholesale purchasers of the goods. This has resulted in many British farmers often being compelled to sell products to supermarkets at below cost price, or as is the case in many developing countries, produce cash crops for export rather than grow food for their own populations. Thus we often have a ridiculous scenario where countries are being given Aid from the West while farmers in those same countries export cash crops to fill European/US supermarket shelves.
Therefore as populations around the world increase, as water resources dwindle, and as climate change affects agricultural production the availability and costs will inevitably impact on the western consumer. Food is relatively cheap in the UK at the moment because three or four very large and economically very powerful firms are holding those prices down. You may find this of interest www.vero.org.uk/press12.asp.
Now to your second post.
Niecie Quote["I would also dispute the idea that diet was healthier in the rationing years."] End quote.
You are free to dispute it but the evidence would be against you. The work of Boyd Orr in the 1920s & 30s led to him being actively involved in the planning for wartime rationing and he placed particular emphasis on ensuring women and children had extra milk. The wartime diet also moved away from a heavier emphasis on meat towards grains and vegetables. This took time and for the first two years the Government was reluctant to implement these changes in agricultural production until its own scientific advisors pointed out that letting humans consume the grain directly was more economical and ten times more efficient than feeding it to cattle and then feeding the cattle to the humans.
As a result of a fairer and more equitable distribution of resources many people were probably better fed during food rationing than before the war began www.nutrition.org.uk/home.asp?siteId=43§ionId=440.
Niecie Quote ["Surely you are aware that fruit and veg were also rationed and that if you were an urban dweller they would undoubtedly been in very short supply."] End quote
From early 1940 meat, butter and sugar were rationed and later other foodstuffs, including tea, were added. As the war progressed, and given the privations suffered at particular times, entitlement to these goods varied. However, contrary to your misinformed comment vegetables fruit, bread, potatoes, and fish were never rationed during hostilities, although again, given the problems encountered during the war, the choice and availability of fish, fruit and vegetables could, at times, be limited or even non existent.
Niecie Quote ["Coupled with this, the rationing idea may work to reduce our food intake but it does nothing to replicate the other wartime conditions - people did a lot more exercise back then. If they had to go anywhere they walked, cycled or took public transport."] End quote.
That is correct but then I've never advocated we do replicate them.
Purely as a point of interest might I enquire how travelling on public transport increases one's level of exercise? One is still sedentary. The only additional exercise that will arise is the walk to and from the station or bus stop.
Niecie Quote ["Are you planning to ban us from driving for large parts of the week too?"] End quote.
Again, I repeat, just in case it has slipped anyone's memory, I'm not planning to do anything but would it be such a bad idea if people actually walked a little more? Of course during WW2 petrol, like food, was also rationed.
Niecie Quote ["Rationing might serve to make us skinnier but it won't necessarily make us fitter."] End quote
Perhaps you'd care to define what you mean by "skinnier" and "fitter"? It is certainly widely recognised that a diet that places a heavy emphasis on fruit, vegetables, and grains with a modest intake of sugar, fats, and meat is far healthier. By the end of WW2 just such a diet was commonplace for the majority of the inhabitants of Britain.
Of course after 1945 things actually got worse and bread was put on ration between 1946 and 1949. The process of de-rationing was slow and it didn't completely end until 1954. However, the advantages, particularly to the generation of children born during or just after the end of the war, were clearly evident.
To investigate the nutritional status of the population of the UK during the Second World War, nutritional surveys were commissioned in 1941. These included surveys of two groups of pregnant women: the first comprised 120 working-class women who were studied in the spring of 1942, and a second group of 253 women in 1944. Both groups were followed up until after delivery and detailed biochemical assessments were performed on each subject. The statistical analysis of the haematological data showed that nearly 25% of women from the 1942 group were deficient in protein, over 60% were deficient in Fe and vitamin A, and over 70% had severe vitamin C deficiency. The findings were reported to the Ministries of Health and Food who instigated a food supplementation policy at the end of 1942 that entitled pregnant women in the UK to extra rations of fruit, dairy produce and to a supply of cod-liver-oil tablets. A second group of 253 pregnant women were studied 15 months later which enabled the effects of this programme to be investigated.
The resultant findings of this study continued to exert an influence over government food policy for pregnant women until the abolition of rationing in 1954.