The threat to England’s population during World War II [1939-1945] resulted in a rationing system to ensure, with much of their workforce drafted for military service, that the remaining population would not succumb to starvation. Germany’s march through Europe, and Great Britain, greatly reduced the ability of countries to send livestock to market, produce grains, harvest fruits, and vegetables, and deliver dairy and egg products, as railroad tracks, cities, and roads were bombed, and young farmers were in uniform.
Food shortages forced people to adopt new eating habits as the government regulated the availability of meats, fat, eggs, and sugar. But, the richest, most expensive, sources of protein were evenly allocated across the population according to age, and health, needs. Therefore the distribution of a reduced food supply throughout the population was more equitable. Wealth no longer ensured a larger supply of food for a family. Self reliance was encouraged by agencies distributing instructions as to how to create produce gardens. Citizens kept laying hens, so they had eggs as a daily source of protein they would not have to purchase, or use ration points, at a market.
The war-time British government oversaw the production of bread, eliminating the refining process that produced the preferred white bread. Instead, with less refining, a flour that was courser, darker in color [richer in nutrients], and higher in fiber resulted in the the new standard in English households…the “National Loaf.”
Paradoxically, during the war, as has been noticed in population studies of other European countries, health improved during the harsh conditions of imposed rationing. Children were healthier, heart disease rates reduced, as did overall death rates, compared to those measured in peacetime.
World War II was a time of violent death, disability, destruction, and scarcity. But, it can teach us positive, important lessons today when we are surrounded by an endless supply of food, much of it over processed, what some call chemical cuisine. The lesson is— less is more. The British [and other countries’] war-time, rationing policies forced populations to eat in the way Michael Pollan encourages today, “Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.”