WW2 diet healthy or not?

[Greensleeves]

My grandfather used his Anderson shelter (known as 'the dug-out') to store his garden produce after the war.  I can remember as a child standing at the top of the steps whilst he went down to get apples, potatoes, carrots or whatever was needed in the kitchen.  There was always a dark, damp, earthy smell coming from the depths of the dug-out and it was sometimes a bit scarey waiting there, until my grandfather emerged into the light, clutching a torch in one hand, and vegetables and fruit wrapped in newspaper in the other!

[Katharine F]

I am not so sure that everbody had a healthy diet.
I have been told by several people with experience of WW2 that those living in areas that received a lot of bombing had no resources for growing vegetables or keeping chickens etc.
 Also shops were damaged causing shortages and mothers often went short to make sure their children had enough to eat.
Problems arose too when service men and women came home on leave as extra food was given to them at the expense of others.

[Greensleeves]

I think Katharine has highlighted a problem which always existed:  people in the countryside suffered from being tied to the land and low wages, but they had the ability to grow their own food.  People attracted to towns in the industrial revolution and after by seemingly higher wages found they lost out because they could no longer grow much of their own food.

In my family, I am told, during  WW2 those who lived in towns and cities relied heavily on relatives who lived in the country bringing them home-produced food.  With the relatively efficient public transport system, it was not difficult for people from, say, Suffolk, to make a trip to London with a basket of goodies for their city cousins.

Reading through the MO published diaries, there are constant references to people making such trips and taking with them pots of jam, preserves or a joint of meat.   It does seem on balance that during WW2 the people who lived in the countryside were far better off in terms of food and general comfort than those who lived in the cities.  But it is also interesting to note from those diaries the number of city people who went to stay with country relatives to get away from the bombing, but who - whilst enjoying the break - couldn't wait to get back home.

[youngtug]

http://www.allotment.org.uk/articles/Allotment-History.php

[LizzieW]

I was born January 1941 and don't remember ever going hungry.  It helped that my mum had a shop and the other shopkeepers used to share out any spare, fruit, veg, meat etc. even though as mum's shop was a ladies underwear shop, she couldn't reciprocate.  The local fishmonger used to give me a cup of shrimps almost every day - I still love them.

I do remember when I was about 5-6 having to take a container to school to collect some cocoa powder that had been sent over by the Canadians.

I think the difference as others have said was that there were no fast food outlets, bread and butter were rationed for ages, so you could only eat a certain amount at one time.  Also the fruit and veg we ate was what was in season, so it was a treat to have strawberries etc.

[Ruskie]

There was a program on BBC2 a few months ago in which Giles Coren and Sue Perkins did a series of historical food re-enactments - eating the food from various periods.    

"The Supersizers Go.." 
I love this series and the WW2 episode was one of my favourites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Supersizers...

But they do only eat these diets for a week - but it is amazing how it only takes a week for changes to be noticed healthwise.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts and experiences. Interesting thread bykerlad.

[bykerlads]

Really interesting replies- especially from those who lived through the war.
Am still not convinced that growing children and adolescents in particular got enough protein and calcium on the rations for it to be called a healthy diet. does anyone know what the weekly allocation of meat/cheese/milk was on rations?
Am entirely in agreement that excessive use of sugars of all types and hydrogenated fats in post-war, especially later 20th C ,manufactured foods are the real dangerous elements of many people's diets- not merely affecting health and weight but also children's behaviour. In this regard, WW2 rations were definitely good for you!

[giraffe]

I  was born 1940, and can just remember being sent by mother to a nearby neighbour with sugar coupons, which she exchanged for cheese coupons! I still have all my own teeth in good condition!!
I can also remember when my Dad was demobbed, being sent to the local grocery shop carrying two saucers. These were for a 'slice' of icecream - word had got round that it was available. No wafers, and boy was I careful to carry it, one saucer on top. Sadly I can't remember eating it - perhaps it was Dad's treat?
giraffe 

[youngtug]

Really interesting replies- especially from those who lived through the war.
Am still not convinced that growing children and adolescents in particular got enough protein and calcium on the rations for it to be called a healthy diet. does anyone know what the weekly allocation of meat/cheese/milk was on rations?

http://www.suite101.com/content/diet-in-wartime-a151257