Rationing and food shortages

Being an island has always meant that Britain has had to import large amounts of the food it requires to feed its large population. So when the war began in 1939 it became obvious that, unless ways could be found to ensure the safe delivery of food from overseas, some foods were going to become very scarce and others might disappear altogether. Most of the goods which were brought to Britain arrived on board ship and so Hitler quickly made these ships one of his main targets. He used his submarine fleet to destroy as many British ships as possible in an attempt to starve the British people into surrender.

Because of this the government decided to introduce a scheme of rationing of certain foods and also of other goods, such as clothes. Every person in the country was issued with a ration book and they had to register with their local shops in order to get the food they were entitled to.

At first only butter, sugar and bacon was rationed but in 1940 this was extended to many other foods - all meat, cheese, eggs, tea, jam and milk. As examples of the amounts that people were entitled to, each person could have per week:

4 ounces (113 g) of butter or lard
12 ounces (340g) of sugar
2 eggs
6 ounces (170g) of meat
4 ounces (113g) of bacon

Although foods such as vegetables were not rationed they were still in very short supply and many fruits, such as bananas and lemons disappeared from the shelves completely. Fruits which were grown in Britain, such as strawberries, apples, pears were available when they were in season. The people of Britain were encouraged to grow their own food wherever it was possible and many people turned their whole gardens over to fruit and vegatable production.

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