Thriftlady's wartime experiment

Justamum

Are you going to try eating WWII style? Thriftlady did that for a month ages ago - there should be a thread. I decided to have a go (I'm vegan and the rest of my family are vegetarian). I decided to just substitute the meat for pulses. I was shocked at the amount of fat and sugar they ate then -10oz total fat for each adult and 8oz of sugar. Every week! We don't go through that much for a family of 5. Anyway, I duly made dinner, and my DH decided he wasn't playing that game, so I stopped.

valentina

Try here
http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/History/WWII%20Food%20Rationing.htm
and
http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2010/03/plea-for-cheese.html

dandy-candy

I will look for links, but I can tell you that my grandparents were vegetarian and during WW2 they had extra cheese and eggs in place of meat. Also my granny refused to have a soldier billeted in there house unless he was vegetarian, and she was billeted with a Hindu soldier from Lahore who taught her to make fantastic vegetable curries! Also being healthy my grandpa didn't want the army ration cigarettes so would swap them for other soldiers army ration chocolate which made him very popular

Broomstick

Justamum wrote: »

Are you going to try eating WWII style? Thriftlady did that for a month ages ago - there should be a thread. I decided to have a go (I'm vegan and the rest of my family are vegetarian). I decided to just substitute the meat for pulses. I was shocked at the amount of fat and sugar they ate then -10oz total fat for each adult and 8oz of sugar. Every week! We don't go through that much for a family of 5. Anyway, I duly made dinner, and my DH decided he wasn't playing that game, so I stopped.

:rotfl:
I'm asking just out of curiosity, and because of the realisation that I was already not buying what would have been my clothes ration limit, and that seems normal now.

I wondered how much the rest of my lifestyle would have been altered by wartime restrictions. I know that the transport situation would have been massively different because of petrol rationing and, ultimately, no fuel for domestic use. Since we have stopped having baths and only take short showers, and try to economise as much as possible with water because of metering, I don't think we'd have been affected by the request to use less water. I wanted to see what the food situation would have been for us eating a wartime vegetarian diet. It might be interesting to try to give it a go for a week or so though.

B x
edited to add - Thanks for the links Valentina. Lovely story dandy-candy!

Justamum

Broomstick wrote: »

:rotfl:
I'm asking just out of curiosity, and because of the realisation that I was already not buying what would have been my clothes ration limit, and that seems normal now.

If I had the clothes ration allowance to use I would be dressed like a queen. I did buy myself a packet of socks last year though. That was really pushing the boat out :rotfl:

valentina

Justamum wrote: »

If I had the clothes ration allowance to use I would be dressed like a queen. I did buy myself a packet of socks last year though. That was really pushing the boat out :rotfl:

Totally off topic I know, but I hope they were boy's socks - that's what I buy anyway, much cheaper than ladies'

[Deleted User]

Broomstick wrote: »

:rotfl:
.. Lovely story dandy-candy!

The story made me smile too.

THIRZAH

I know someone who was in the airforce during the war. She was vegetarian and said that there was a block of cheese on the serving counter at mealtimes and they had a lump of that instead of meat-bit monotonous after a time, I should think.

Justamum

valentina wrote: »

Totally off topic I know, but I hope they were boy's socks - that's what I buy anyway, much cheaper than ladies'

I don't think they would fit me - I've got size 7 feet.

[Deleted User]

Even if you were allowed the ration, you may well have not been able to afford to buy the items. My Dad remembers that he had to go halves with his sweet ration. He had the coupon and his friend had the money so they shared the sweets between them. Both my mother and father went hungry as children because they had no money to buy rations with. My dad did not thrive as a child and had to attend an 'open air' school for his health.

Maybe it was the same for clothing. If you didn't have the money, you couldn't get the clothes