Could you cope with rationing?

If we're having to ration we will cope. But I don't think it will be particularly easy.

I totally agree that it would do us good.

I think we’d be ok, MrJ would struggle more than me. I grow some veg and help with my friend’s allotment, we also have a friend who shoots rabbits, pheasant and deer.
I’d rather not though.

No……

Although there are plenty of survivalist groups ( mostly in the USA) who would have us thinking that ‘it’s all about to kick off’ whatever that means.
I once lost a whole weekend after someone persuaded me to google ‘family cloth’ and ‘off grid family life’, and they aren’t even survivalists. I think the real ones do all the family cloth stuff, but add in an unhealthy amount of firearms training and fitness drills. Surviving is one thing, but if I had to behave like some of that lot I’d lose the will to live.

They live in Compounds……..

Having watched certain programmes and read about how resourceful wartime generations were, obviously to even begin to emulate them, we would all have to massively adjust our lifestyles, although the mainstream population's diet of the late '30s before the war broke out was I imagine fairly simple. Many people now are used to a cuisine emanating from far flung corners of the globe and to obtaining, sometimes quite obscure ingredients and spices, we take so much for granted today.

Maybe we'll just have to dig up our gardens/parks/golf courses up and plant for food. It does occur to me me that previous generations in both sides of the family were far more resourceful than we have been in that respect, have managed a few herbs but............that's won't keep us going

I saw a man in Sainsburys the other day with a whole trolly load of cooking/sunflower oil, I didn't follow him to the till, but I did think such people cause shortages! I hope they told him to put some of it back

Oh good grief, I’ve just googled ‘Family cloth’ I thought it was about making new clothes out of old.

Wrong.

TerriBull they are rationing sunflower oil now in some supermarkets. Off we go again.
I think I could cope with rationing if I had to. In the ‘olden days’ there were often shortages in HK. Everything came in by ship, even water during the water shortage. I was only a child but can remember it.

I’m pretty sure I’d be able to but as I live in flat growing very much could be difficult. I’d hope the local authority would release land for allotments/urban container gardening, especially those with no gardens.

For those who use food-banks, their food is already rationed and limited to what others give. Apparently it was a rather boring in WW2 but everyone had enough to live. Those in the countryside had more than town dwellers. It certainly wasn’t an easy time.

we have not all lost those skills and yes I could manage

Oh good grief, I’ve just googled ‘Family cloth"

not envy

I see no reason why simple eating need be dull, or boring. Almost all the flavour and interest in food comes from the herbs, spices, and the condiments we add to it. Not the food itself.

Wartime food was dull because so was pre-war food because then, apart from mint sauce with lamb, horse radish with beef and mixed spice in festival food (hot cross buns, mince pies etc), our cuisine was almost totally devoid of herbs or spices -and a little of both will go along way.

Yep.
Easier if I could grow more veg, but I could do it.

I think younger families would possibly struggle more to cope with food rationing than older generations would. I had the benefit of Domestic Science lessons at school; taught how to cook wholesome family meals, from scratch, with few ingredients and within a budget. But they stopped those lessons in the 1980s I think? So several generations haven't had the opportunity to learn those skills unfortunately.

Of course we would cope. You do what you have to do. I'm sure that I read somewhere that people were never fitter during the war years.

I still remember the rationing during and after WW2. We coped marvellously as mum was so resourceful. We kept chickens and grew masses of vegetables and soft fruits. I'm not sure how I would cope but I think I would.

Having been born in 1930 I am used to shortages in more ways than one, so rationing would be a doddle to me.
I was married in 1949 and we were still on rations but my mother managed to get a tasty buffet together for the guests.
Fourteen years of food rationing in Britain ended at midnight on 4 July 1954

effalump, may I ask you why you think (and where you’ve heard it from), that starvation and famine is just around the corner for us? I know that it is, (very sadly), a reality for many in this world of ours, ( and shouldn’t be), but are you referring to it being a reality for us here in the UK any time soon? Where are your facts and figures? Also, where are your figures to support your statement that most of the countries in the world are bankrupt or very nearly bankrupt? Sweeping statements such as this need backing up with facts, otherwise it’s just scaremongering.

I’ll add that , yes, the war between Ukraine and Russia means that our supplies of vegetable oil, and possibly wheat ( though other parts of the world produce wheat and cooking oil, including us here in the UK), are likely to reduce, but until there is a world wide war (heaven forbid), then I don’t think that we are on the edge of starvation and famine here just yet. Let’s not start panicking and scaremongering just yet.

Oopsadaisy1

Oh good grief, I’ve just googled ‘Family cloth’ I thought it was about making new clothes out of old.

Wrong.

Wrong on a number of levels

I watched my mum make meals for nine from basics. I was on my own with two children and a very low budget less is more and healthy too.

There's no doubt the older generation would cope much better than the younger ones who have no concept of food shortage and don't remember the days before supermarkets. I don't believe rationing would ever be as strict as it was during the war, but judging by the obesity crisis and the countless supermarket aisles of sugary, fatty, processed foods I think rationing of those things would do wonders for the health of the nation. In fact I think it's the only was the obesity crisis will ever be solved, because as long as those things are freely available people will keep buying them.

Doodledog

Oopsadaisy1

Oh good grief, I’ve just googled ‘Family cloth’ I thought it was about making new clothes out of old.

Wrong.

Wrong on a number of levels

Isn't it just.

I really shouldn't have googled.

I couldn’t resist googling could I? Wish I hadn’t.

Me too!
We won’t be buying any in this household I can assure you.