A delicious meal of ‘grown close to home’ produce- the 1940’s diet was more environmentally friendly

Choosing to live one year on 1940s wartime rationing to lose 100 lb isn’t JUST all about losing the flab and finally being able to once in a while wear a dress and heels (last time I wore a dress was about 16 years ago). For me it is also about training myself to eat in a more environmentally friendly way..

I am convinced we have SO MUCH TO LEARN from this period of time in the way people HAD to eat. People were eating to stay healthy, it became a mission to keep yourself and your family strong and healthy. The internal propaganda has to be the BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN I have ever seen. It succeeded in encouraging people to waste little, eat healthily and supplement their rationing with fresh homegrown vegetables. People turned their lawns into vegetable gardens, areas in parks had designated area too- it became a huge joint effort.

We have SO MANY CHOICES these days that for some folk (like me) it is very difficult to make healthier food choices when I can pick anything I like off the heavily laden shelves…maybe this is one of the contributing factors of our increased obesity in many of our nations.

1940s wartime rationing ( culinary and generally) was therefore more environmentally friendly because

1. Most foods were grown locally or within the country (less gas/petrol & air-miles)
2. Imported goods dropped significantly and Britain began to grow more of it’s own
3. There was less waste- people threw less away and just made do
4. Clothes were recycled and shared
5. People rationed water, used less power, rationed fuel

We are so lucky and have so much these days that many of the ‘mend and make do’ thoughts that people lived with day by day back in the 1940’s have all but disappeared. We feel deprived over so many things and we think this is normal…

I think we need to occasionally step back in time and remind ourselves just how little we actually need.

C xx