Includes bibliographical references (p. 232-235) and index.
Contents:
Fairer shares -- Food values and valuable foods -- The housewife, her kitchen and what she was told -- Dig for victory and vegetables -- Country life -- The wild harvest and preserving -- Towns -- The black market and grey areas -- Let's have a party -- Austerity and recovery -- Representative recipes -- Friends and memories.
Summary:
The battle to keep the nation fed during the Second World War was waged by an army of workers on the land and the resourcefulness of the housewives on the Kitchen Front. The rationing of food, clothing, and other substances played a big part in making sure that everyone had a fair share of whatever was available. This book examines how experiences of rationing varied between rich and poor, town and country, and how ingenuous cooks often made a meal from poor ingredients. Charting the development of the rationing program throughout the war and afterwards, the author documents the use of substitutions for luxury ingredients not available, resulting in delicacies such as carrot jam and oatmeal sausages. The introduction of Spam from America in the forties led to this canned spiced pork and ham becoming an iconic symbol of the worst period of shortage in the twentieth century. Written seventy years after the outbreak of the Second World War, this book also listens to some of the people who were young during the conflict share their memories, both sad and funny, of what it was like to eat for Victory.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.