living on a ration

I've sometimes thought of trying to follow a WW2 ration diet, just to see whether I could do it and what it was like.
Hannah did it for a week and shared it on her youtube channel:

In the UK during World War II, people received a monthly allotment of points for rationing, which they could use to purchase rationed goods. The number of points a person received depended on the item they wanted to buy, with more expensive items requiring more points.

Adults: Received 24 points every four weeks
Children and vulnerable people: Received three points per week
Pregnant women: Received two points per allocation

Points were used to purchase rationed goods like meat, cheese, fats, tinned food, and clothing, and could be saved for other items. Points were distributed to citizens in ration books and this system helped ensure a fair share of rationed goods and encouraged people to buy cheaper cuts of meat.

I did use a lot of vegetables in this experiment, tomatoes, onions, garden peas, carrots, mushrooms, and of course potatoes, but I went sparingly as, although vegetables weren't rationed during WWII, they were in short supply!

I wouldn't have said she used a lot of vegetables! That's where the victory garden growing your own would have made such a difference.

source

From Rationing in the United Kingdom

foodstuff	amount per adult per week in 1945
Bacon and ham	4 oz (113 g)
Sugar	8 oz (227 g)
Loose tea	2 oz (57 g)
Meat	1s. 2d. (equivalent to £3.18 in 2023)
Cheese	2 oz (57 g) Vegetarians were allowed an extra 3 oz (85 g) cheese
Preserves (per month)	2 lb (0.91 kg) marmalade or 1 lb (0.45 kg) preserve or 1 lb (0.45 kg) sugar
Butter	2 oz (57 g)
Margarine	4 oz (113 g)
Lard	2 oz (57 g)
Sweets	12 oz (340 g) per month

There is more information and recipe links on Lavender and lovage 'blog if you fancy doing some more reading round the subject.

Has anyone tried doing something like this? What were the worst/best things about it?

I think for me the forwards planning would be tricky - I tend to look in the fridge and say - what shall I have tonight? Partly because I don't know what I will have left over in the shop. But one egg?! That's why you'll find lots of recipes like vinegar cake for baking.

I love Utility Jude's Wartime Cookery channel.

In particular, I love how she's set the whole thing in as authentic a kitchen as possible and presented the videos as though the war is actually happening.

Here's a sample...



She even uses a haybox to save fuel!

Happily, I've never attempted to live on the wartime ration.
But I want to offer my favorite way to prepare for the occasional lack of eggs, as Nancy points out,

I think for me the forwards planning would be tricky - I tend to look in the fridge and say - what shall I have tonight? Partly because I don't know what I will have left over in the shop. But one egg?!

Keeping a stash of flax seed in the fridge, I have yet to find an application where the "flax egg" as an egg substitute doesn't deliver a quick victory over a limited ration. For each required egg in a recipe, substitute 1 T flax seed (ground to flax meal) and 2.5 T water. I've used this in everything from meatloaf to waffles and the flax egg works perfectly every time.

There's also an excellent piece on the rationing system -- and the advantages of being in the countryside  -- in BBC"s Wartime Farm series, episode 2, at about the 20 minute mark.

I would not last long on that ration!

R Scott wrote:I would not last long on that ration!

The key thing is, this isn't all your food, although as N says, other foods were in short supply.  Hence, being able to grow your own ('dig for victory'), and we have to admin 'the illicit trade' was so important to make up your calories & other nutrients.

Jake at The Kitchen Scrap.on YouTube just finished a one year WWII rationing challenge. He's super entertaining as well. Mostly (but not exclusively) vegetarian.

I didn't see flour and meal on the ration list.

I bet homemakers could make a lot of goodies with those to make life more live-able ....

Anne Miller wrote:I didn't see flour and meal on the ration list.

I don't think flour was rationed (cornmeal isn't really a thing in the UK) but you had to make a standard wholemeal bread loaf if you were baking bread. As Ac says above though other things might have been in short supply.....they never rationed beer though

If there is Flour, Water, Salt at home, any one can make flat bread or tortillas.

Or make these with flour and water:

Interesting recipe.  Lots of potential!  Cheese rolls, or cinnamon rolls, or orange almond…

Could be adapted to sour dough, and definitely fresh ground kamut, or whatever grain you want

Thank you!

While not a WW2 ration, I like to consider what a continental soldier's meal might look like.

Luckily, we have youtube!

Be creative and learn to live without much. Get sunlight that reduces your hunger cravings. Invest in honey, dried and preserved foods, etc. keep things simple and tasty.

Rice and beans, ramen noodles, honey, powders to mix with water etc, dried potato flakes, canned veggies, canned fish is cheap.

We have grocery stores that sell foods about to expire half price. I buy a.bunch of canned corn,peas,greens, fish, etc that will last me until spring. And lots of honey. Only thing I buy is beef and chicken I need to get something that will cover that ration wise.

Youd be surprised what you can eat to survive. Check out wild edibles greens and plants in your neighborhood. And have fun with it. Survival isn't always doom and gloom. That's only to get your willpower up. Much love.

I have lots of buddies in military, and was homeless for a while. I had a small camp stove, had stash of canned veggies. Bag of seasoning packets, tallow, etc. I had no refrigerator or microwave. I only bought enough beef to eat for a day or two. Wintertime things keep a while.

I also made a drink from moringa powder, aloe vera powder, pine pollen and a little cinnamon and honey. That would last me the whole day.