Rationing and how to implement it

The study of the 1940’s home-front has always been one of my interests…I’m no expert but I do have a fascination with the domestic situation during World War II and the ingenuity and self- reliance exhibited by familes in the UK and Europe. It has never been far from my mind as I scoff down a doughnut or have a 3 egg omlette just how much we take our food situation as granted- its always there, we never have to do without or ration valuable stocks in short supply. What must it have really been like to live with limited rations? And just how ingenious did housewives get to make things stretch further?



Here is a typical weekly ration for an adult in 1943- this is what will form the basis for my rationing

1lb meat
3 pints milk
1 egg
3-4 oz cheese
4 oz bacon or ham
2 oz tea
8 oz sugar
2 oz butter
2 oz cooking fat

In addition to this 16 points were available for other un-rationed foods if they were available in the shop. I intend to select my 16 points worth at the beginning of every week and put them on my 1940’s shelf.

Note: I have since found out that the 16 points was for a whole month!

As soon as the snow melts in April it will be onwards and upwards digging a ‘victory garden’. Families during WWII found having a back yard veg garden an absolute necessity as this provided them with not only healthy fresh veg but also the bulk of their diet in addition to the meagre rations. Chickens will also be added to my victory garden in the Spring which should allow me more eggs and possibly a celebratory omlette following 4 months rationing of just 1 egg per week….As an experiment and aside to the cooking & rationing I will be interested to monitor my weight-loss and cholestrol levels and levels of increasing fitness during the year ahead…..I can’t afford to go to the doctor for regular check ups and monitoring of blood pressure however there is a store in town with an automatic blood pressure machine- the use of which is free so I will take readings from this every couple of months to monitor any improvement.

January 2006- Life begins at 1940

My plan is to live in the 1940’s for a year, not literally but following individual rationing plan for one whole year to improve my health & lose weight. I want this to not only be of benefit to me but a social experiment too- a trip back in time to when people out of necessity became more self- sufficient, grew their own, kept backyard chickens and were rarely overweight….We’ve recently moved to a cabin by a lake here in Nova Scotia, with our three children. As soon as the snow goes in the spring I’ll be ‘digging for victory’ and will re-create a wartime self- sufficient veg garden and keep chickens too to increase my meagre rationing allowance of 1 fresh egg per week…..

I’ve got a lot of weight to lose, I’m pretty much desperate to return to being a healthy individual…so many things I’d like to do again like walk, run, swim but not only that, later this year I can expect a medical with regards to our immigration to Canada (we are currently here on work and study permits) At the moment I am horrifically teetering on 23 stone following Christmas over indulgence and have borderline high blood pressure- these results would not look good.I’m not going to feed my family rations although I will expect them to try out some of my war recipes- this is my deal, my experiment, my health and something I must finally settle for myself.I’ll be keeping a weekly online log of progress in the kitchen and in the garden and share with you my recipes, thoughts and feelings and photos too….I think I need to do this publicly to help me and I would appreciate any encouragement offered....I've tried to lose this weight so many times and sometimes lost 3 or 4 stone but modern day temptations soon pile the pounds back on...I’m hoping now that my life really will begin at 40……..1940!