Thread: Food Rationing During WWII

Points for Treats

A welcome adjunct to basic food rationing was the "points system" introduced in December 1941. Everyone received the same number of "points" which initially covered tinned fish, meat and beans, non-perishable foods, but soon spread to other items. As points varied according to availability, a housewife could chose to blow them all on a luxury, like a tin of red salmon, or spread them across several "lower points" foods. Sweet and chocolate rationing began on 26 July 1942. At first it was 8oz (226g), it increased to 16oz (453g) and finally settled at 12oz (340g) for a four week period for the rest of the war.

There were calls for tinned food to go "on the ration" but this was resisted by the Ministry of Food which introduced a "points" system for such commodities in December 1941 since the supply could not be guaranteed.



The realities of wartime. Leonora K. Green's painting Coupons Required, 1941, showing a week's rations for a family after two years at war.



Shop keepers could become quite powerful people as a result of wartime rationing, and it was well worth cultivating a friendship with your local retailer since some scarce foodstuff might be kept "under the counter" for favoured customers.



Dried eggs imported from the US under the Lend Lease scheme. Acceptable for baking, few found powdered eggs an adequate substitute in scrambled eggs or omelettes.

The ration book for a ten year old girl in 1943. A child of that age would be entitled to the some provisions as an adult plus an extra allowance of milk and eggs.



A butcher in south London scissors out the necessary coupons from a housewife's ration book on 8 January 1940, the first day of rationing.