Preparedness for when

Nargleblast

No more slugs.......on the theme of healthy eating, I reckon if the SHTF and we had no access to processed foods, we would be eating more veggies etc so should be more healthy? I am thinking of Second World War diets here.

[Deleted User]

If you don't have WW2 books there are usually copies of Marguerite Pattens wartime recipe books kicking around for very little money in the charity shops. There were three originally We'll Eat Again, The Victory Cookbook and The Post War Kitchen which have also been published as three in one compilations called both The Jubilee cook book and Jubilee Dishes. Also on Ebay search for Ambrose Heath as an author, he wrote and broadcast on the radio many wartime recipes, I've picked up more than 20 of his books over the years and they have been republished in the past couple of years in paperback form. Relevant to the situation today as much as they were in 1939 and surprisingly tasty even to a modern palate.

maryb

I'm not convinced about the wartime diet. It's quite true that the health of the nation as a whole was never better, but I think that is because the war eliminated dire poverty - mostly by eliminating unemployment. Even in London which was not one of the depressed areas, 8 out of 10 children attending LCC elementary schools were shown in John Boyd Orr's study to be suffering from some degree of malnutrition.

Yes, it massively increased health but that is not the same as saying it was an optimum diet. After six years of war medical authorities were concerned that people were taking a long time to recover from minor ills.

I have a small collection of housekeeping manuals from the 1930s and I think that the diet of the middle classes that these books were aimed at was probably as good as it gets, particularly now that the PTB are being dragged round to recognising that fat is not evil. It was a fairly plain diet but it included more meat, milk eggs and cheese than the wartime diet.

But it wasn't lavish. Cooked breakfasts every day were not the norm, about three days a week they would suggest porridge with leftover stewed fruit and even when it was a hot breakfast they would suggest eking it out with potato to make croquettes etc. And the meat dishes would often include the equivalent of rubber chicken, although it would be beef or lamb because chicken was expensive

It does seem to have contributed to the increased height of middle class children compared with the poor.

so yes, a wartime diet as a starting point but supplemented with quite a bit more high quality protein and enough fat to give you fat soluble vitamins without having to take cod liver oil (which they only gave to children though adults need those vitamins too)

Cappella

I'd recommend 'Economical Cookery' by Mrs. D Cottingham Taylor. It was published by the Daily Express in 1936/37 - copies on Amazon and Abebooks still available. It covers everything, and lists menu plans with costings for every day of the year. Fascinating bit of social history. Very British food and the recipes WORK. Bit bland maybe for modern tastes but a great aunt gave me her copy in when we got married in 1974. It's been invaluable and 43 years later I still use it - though at the time I thought it a mean gift (a second hand cookery book! What a nasty little snob I was)it's been worth its weight in gold.

[Deleted User]

I can't believe we will have rationing again no matter what happens on leaving the EU so we'll have access to what we can afford rather than being limited to a set amount each per week. That should give us adequate nutrition. The cheapest cuts of meat are equally as good in terms of nutritive value to fillet steak and venison so even if we can't afford to eat with as much choice as we do now I think we'll be adequately fed for health needs. What will be good for us as a nation though will be eating more fresh veg and fruit and less processed foods if we can afford to. I know I'm lucky as we do grow much of our own fruit and veg and not everyone has the ability or the land to do that and we eat very little ready made of anything but when we're talking Wartime Diet I guess we're really saying emphasis on fresh things in season and appropriate protein in smaller quantities than is the norm today? which would be healthier than ready meals and takeaways on a day to day basis, keep those for the occasional treat and enjoy when you do!

maryb

ooh thanks Capella, I love those old books. Just ordered one from Amazon.

Not every old cookbook is a gem though. I have my mother in law's old cookbook which is from the early 1950s when rationing was still in force though beginning to ease and the recipes are truly dire. I think people had forgotten how to cook.

Marguerite Patten published a Learn to Cook book in the 1960s which I have and which is very good. It carries on the pre-war tradition of fairly plain and economical but varied and nourishing food but she didn't need to limit ingredients the way she did in wartime

maryb

Mrs L, I think that's the key. There was a thread on here a few years back about someone following a wartime diet and she found it interesting but far too restrictive and unhealthy in many ways because of having to stick with the limits of rationing. But anyone who has tried such an experiment usually chooses to stick with a modified version of that approach to eating

[Deleted User]

It was THRIFTLADYS WARTIME EXPERIMENT Mary, a good read if you're interested in wartime food. I've enjoyed re reading it fairly recently and there are some very nice (surprisingly when your consider the lack of ingredients) recipes on there too.

Karmacat

I'm in the middle of repacking my medical supplies ... I've ended up with two 24 litre crates (from Wilko) - I'm a bit surprised at the amount I've got tbh :eek: though painkillers take up quite a lot of space because of the arthritis and chronic fatigue ... Its good to know *exactly* what I've got, and that it won't be as dusty now

I came across some condoms and sat there wondering, so googled, and found this guy: http://willowhavenoutdoor.com/featured-wilderness-survival-blog-entries/1-ways-a-condom-can-save-your-life-multi-functional-survival-uses-for-a-condom/ which is quite a fun post, I think

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maryb

Has anyone here got the Dairy book of cookery (?name)? I've seen it referred to a lot and wondered if it was good for the sort of cooking we have been talking about.

The Bero book is very good indeed. It goes for simple versions of recipes but they work. However it's only baked stuff, of course.
I do like less rich versions of everyday food and most cookbooks now are unnecessarily lavish. Example - most cookbooks in the 1970s would have used a two egg mixture in a recipe for Victoria sponge. Now a three egg mix seems to be standard and that adds a whole extra 2oz of fat and sugar