World War 2 Rationing Challenge: too much food?

[StoatofDisarray]

My partner has bet me I can't follow the UK world war 2 ration for November 1943 for a week.

I've just done the shopping for it and it seems like too much food. I can't work out what I'm doing wrong. Has anyone done this?

People used sugar to make jam and thus preserve any fruit they could come upon, and sugar is used in pickling too, which preserved vegetables.

I'm not using anything from a freezer: I bought some mince and I'm only keeping the amount for the weekly ration out: the rest is going in the freezer for some time in the future.

57g tea is allowed but I don't drink tea. Coffee was never rationed because it wasn't very popular.

Well it's obvious why you feel like you've got 'loads and loads of food.'

Unlimited veg/fruit: no
People in cities had a hard time getting fruit and veg.

People in the countryside had a better time with that, but fewer people were working the land, so less was available.

Someone in London isn't going to have had venison/pheasant.

I don't know how much oats people would have been able to get.

That's a whole breakfast.

Also, remember food was more expensive in general. Just because bread wasn't rationed, it doesn't mean a factory worker and his wife could have afforded loads and loads of bread and other unrationed things.

I've only bought UK grown seasonal fruit and vegetables from my local market.

@tescocreditcard
Both tea and coffee were imported and were rationed.

I don't think a pheasant is impossible. I'll get a rabbit next week.

Vegetables I bought: potatoes, three carrots, some Brussels, one onion, one leek, half a cauliflower shared with my partner, some kale which I'm not keen on and some mushrooms.

Oats were suggested by the government as a good breakfast. They weren't rationed during the war and I'm trying to go by what was available in November 1943.

Placemarking as I find this very interesting.

The point is that the majority of people would not have had access to meat like that. Only the mince you listed.

It's a bit like someone saying, "I don't know why people find flying stressful. You can nap in the VIP lounge, and in first class the food is great!"

Most people don't have that experience.

You say you're trying to reproduce rationing conditions, but you're introducing meat and veg which the majority of people wouldn't have had access to.

My parents were adults at that time, hadn't yet met, living in London, & both said they never went hungry. Dad was luckier as his parents were originally country folk & kept a few rabbits & chickens .
A fridge was a rarity, & freezers were unheard of for the hoi-polloi !
Meat was kept in a "meat safe" ( small cupboard with a mesh front) in the darkest, coolest part of the home.

Good luck OP, keep us posted.

Don't forget that people either walked or biked everywhere they needed to go and keeping house, cooking, and laundry involved a lot more physical labour than it does now. Houses were cold too - there was no central heating. Many families included older teens, boys and girls alike, as well as individuals whonwerent in any of the forces, who spent long days working in war industries.

As the war wore on, clothing was patched and darned. Coats became threadbare, and footwear was more and more likely to be inadequate.

The calories in/ calories out balance was often cut very close. There weren't many fat people back then.

Bread wasn't rationed until later. When it was rationed, the amount for the average adult was 9oz a day, some of that could be swapped out for cake or flour.

That bread won't last long as it will go stale in a day or two. Bread didn't last long due to lack of preservatives. When you think you need to make 21 meals out of that it's not going to go very far and will be very boring and bland. No snacks.

The margarine was absolutely disgusting. Meat had more fat in it 'which made delicious dripping from beef and pork. My mother made delicious rabbit pie. Chicken would be eaten for Christmas dinner only. When bananas came back they were available on a green ration book only(under 5s). Most people would have sugar in their tea. When sweet rationing ended the sweets disappeared virtually overnight due to adults buying most of them, so rationing was reimposed.

"No snacks."

Good idea ! It would solve the current obesity problem.

In my defence, the challenge was to live on the ration of November 1943 for a week, not to replicate the entire lifestyle of someone living in London in 1943.

The context is that my partner is a vegan and I'm a meat-based woman. I like spices and trying out new foods, and I don't eat many carbs or much dairy.

Fish wasn't rationed but was harder to come by, it's hard to transport and keep fresh so I didn't buy it.

Also people ate out a lot more at "British restaurants" especially in London and other cities, but I can't really do that and mimic the sort of food they'd have access to, so I'm allowing myself a pheasant in lieu of that, which I don't think is unreasonable.

That doesn’t look like much food to me? I mean 2 carrots and a leek and onion isnt a week worth of veg is it?
1 loaf of bread won’t last a whole week if your eating with most meals to supplement

My grandmother grew up in ww2, she always said they had plenty to eat also. Not fancy, probably not vitamin rich but her and 6 siblings were bought up in a town in Kent. Vats of porridge, lots of homemade soups and casseroles, toast and bread with every meal. They made lots of homemade jam for winter and went scrumping for apples in farmer fields. Probably not much meat

Did restaurants stamp your ration book or something? Because if not, the rich could just eat out and not be affected by rationing.

I couldn't carry any more! I'll get more bread and veg in the week (sticking to the UK and seasonal rules) and it would be good to look for some fruit because the only seasonal UK fruit I could find were russet apples and Bramley apples. I can also get another pint of milk.

British restaurants (communal kitchens) were cheap and mainly used by people who hadn't been able to afford to eat out before. They served a three course slap up meal at a very reasonable price. www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/history/british-restaurants

Apples, pears, quinces, sloes and medlars are probably the only seasonal fruit available in mid November.

I suppose that would actually be more efficient population-wise. Less waste.

This is true. I saw some UK rhubarb today but it was £10 a kilo.