What English people ate during WWII - Secret Food Tours (2024)

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What English people ate during WWII - Secret Food Tours? ›

Meat (March 1940) was first, followed by fat and eggs, cheese, tinned tomatoes, rice, peas, canned fruit and breakfast cereals. Remember this was a world where even in the pre-war days of plenty, olive oil was sold as a medical aid and dried pasta was confined to a few Italian shops. Rice was mainly for puddings.

The following foods were restricted: bread, meat, cheese, fats (lard, oil, etc.), sugar, milk, chocolate, and milled products. Technically other foods could be obtained, but in reality it was difficult to get them; horsemeat, fish, and fowl were very scarce.

Rationed Foods. The categories of rationed foods during the war were sugar, coffee, processed foods (canned, frozen, etc.), meats and canned fish, and cheese, canned milk, and fats.

Troops serving in the trenches received a regular supply of food called rations. The daily ration for a British soldier consisted of measured amounts of fresh or canned meat, bread, vegetables, bacon, cheese, jam, tea and sugar, rum and tobacco. Mr. Patenaude describes the preparation and transportation of rations.

Less than one third of the food available in the UK at the start of the war was home produced and the country had to import some 20 million tons each year, including meat, cheese, sugar, fruit, cereals and fats as well as large qualities of fuel.

According to The US Dept. of Defense, at first, the meals were stews, yet more varieties were added as the war went on, including meat and spaghetti in tomato sauce, chopped ham, eggs and potatoes, meat and noodles, pork and beans; ham and lima beans, and chicken and vegetables.

Steadily put in place over the initial months of the Occupation, the rations for an adult were: 350 grams of bread a day; 50 grams of cheese and 300 grams of meat a week; and 50 grams of rice, 250 grams of pasta, 200 grams of margarine and 500 grams of sugar a month.

French food rationing was more stringent than that of any other Occupied country in Western Europe in the Second World War, and the nation's resulting aversion to a regime that controlled rations and prices would increase the difficulties of post-war governments.

Grocery stores in France are facing shortages of some goods due to disruptions in their delivery caused by traffic disruptions on national highways that are blocked by protesting farmers, Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets.

What did soldiers eat for lunch in ww2? ›

Second World War

However, soldiers at the front still relied on preserved foods. These largely consisted of tinned items, but also dehydrated meats and oatmeal that were designed to be mixed with water. Morale-boosting items, such as chocolate and sweets, were also provided.

Typically, each soldier carried a daily supply of the so-called Halbieserne or “Iron Ration” that contained one 300-gram tin of meat and one 125- or 150-gram unit of hard bread. The canned meat could be Schmalzfleisch (a pork product), Rinderbraten (roast beef), Truthahnbraten (turkey), or Hahnchenfleisch (chicken).

You could only buy fresh fruit grown in Britain, such as apples or pears. Fruits that had to come in ships, like bananas, vanished from the shops. Many ships were being sunk by enemy submarines, and precious ship-space was needed for war materials (such as oil or guns) not bananas.

A typical day, writes Murlin, might include breakfast of oatmeal, pork sausages, fried potatoes, bread and butter and coffee; lunch of roast beef, baked potatoes, bread and butter, cornstarch pudding and coffee; and dinner of beef stew, corn bread, Karo syrup, prunes, and tea.

Some of these rats grew extremely large. Harry Patch claimed that "there were rats as big as cats". Another soldier wrote: "The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself." These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men.

Soldiers were often given rations that consisted mainly of canned goods. This included such as corned beef, biscuits, and tinned fruit. These foods were not only bland but also lacked essential nutrients. This could become a much larger problems as it could lead to malnutrition and other health problems.

During World War 2, the average wage was four pounds and ten shillings. Your weekly food would cost no more than one pound. Work out how much money you would have for 1 day. Use the recipes and decide on a menu for a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A typical ration for one adult per week was: one fresh egg; 50g (2oz) butter; 100g (4oz)margarine; 50g (2oz) tea; 25g (1 oz) cheese; 225g (8oz) sugar; 100g (4oz or 4 rashers) bacon; 3 pints (1800ml) milk, occasionally dropping to 2 pints (1200ml). Meat to the value of 1s 2d (around 6p today) was also included.

Porridge with a variety of toppings, cereals, fruit juice. Fruit, yoghurt, Pastries a couple of times per week. In the field, it was from ration packs, supplemented where we could. Ask any British Squaddie and compo sausages and bacon grill were some of the greatest things ever invented.

A weekly adult ration during the war allowed for 100g of Bacon and Ham, up to 226 grams of minced meat, 50g of butter, 50g of cheese, 100g of margarine, 100g of cooking fat and three pints of milk. It also included 225 grams of sugar, 50 grams of tea and one shell egg or one packet of dried eggs every four weeks.