Rationing: the propaganda within wartime food.

Often when we think of the Second World War images and rhetoric of conflict, politics, and mainland Europe flood our mind. Yet a similar discourse existed and thrived within Britain, as food was portrayed as the key to win the war. This is achieved by establishing and maintaining a patriotic force on the home front.  All of this food material can be found in the Imperial War Museum, which I visited a few weeks ago.

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The pamphlet ‘Christmas 1945’ was created by Army Catering Corps at the end of the war for meals expected to ‘emerge from the cookhouse’. The opening page, titled ‘OPERATION “CHRISTMAS”’, tied in with the image in the corner and immediately establishes a militarised tone. However this tone is juxtaposed against the actual goal of the pamphlet, which is to “recapture the pre-war spirit of Christmastide”. Although initially this juxtaposition against the celebratory and the indulgent nature of Christmas, the inclusion of the ‘[t]hinking units’ act as transitional phrase for soldiers to integrate into a more domestic sphere.

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During the war the Ministry of Food published a range of leaflets which included: jams and sweets, salads, soups, tomatoes and various recommended diets for children of all ages.  One of the main purposes of these leaflets was to inform the British public about alternative uses of food. However, woven into all of them is imagery that provokes paranoia, leading to a sense of patriotism. One leaflet that particularly stood out to me was the Ministry of Food’s leaflet ‘Carrots’ published in July 1943. Much like ‘Christmas 1945’, this leaflet is also saturated with military connotations.  This leaflet was published in the wake of radar technology which was used to shoot down enemy planes or ships,  the connection between carrots and helping us ‘see better in the blackout’ is particularly interesting. It actually refers to vitamin A which does help to maintain eyesight, yet does not lead to the superhuman ability of night-vision. Reading this in the archives caused me to chuckle to myself, as the myth about carrots helping you see in the dark was told to my sister when she was a child as encouragement to eat her vegetables! Although this probably was not taken so literally by merging the domestic triviality of carrots with the war effort imbues a sense of patriotism, as Britain is eating for victory.