Cooking on the Homefront

Mary Burroughs
Washington School, Peoria

Leon Henderson, who presided as the head of the Federal Office of Price Administration, started rationing foodstuffs in 1942. Rationing was necessary to conserve food in order to win the war. Processed foods were controlled by "blue points," while meats, fats, and oils were "red points." During World War II, this rationing of food presented problems to the homefront cook in Illinois.

People on the homefront during World War II needed to stay healthy, so experts recommended eating a nutritious diet. That became increasingly difficult because the traditional healthy meal, which included a main meat dish, salad, and side dishes of vegetables and potatoes, was limited by rationing. Vitamins were considered important to a well-balanced and nutritious diet. Vitamins were found in foods such as broccoli, eggs, bread, chicken, dairy products, and fish. Other important nutrients included in recommendations were calcium, which is found mainly in dairy products and some vegetables like cauliflower; iron and copper, which were found in liver and veal; and phosphorous, which was found in liver and many types of fish. Recommendations of nonrationed food that contained large amounts of important nutrients and vitamins were made by experts and included in many books and pamphlets designed to help the homefront cook. Many labels were changed because of the war; thus, smart cooks read labels to make sure ingredients were all healthy and filled some nutritional requirements.

Red meat, which was rationed, had to be replaced with other sources of protein. Poultry provided a good answer for cooks, since it was often used in dishes before the war, but could not be readily shipped to troops because it did not keep as long as beef. Fish, a great alternative to meat, also replaced meat in many meals. Mutton, also an attractive substitute for beef, was often ruled out by some cooks because of little knowledge of how to cook it; yet others, who had to find alternatives to beef during the Great Depression because of financial limitations, found ways to cook this to save money then, and they used this information during the war. Some cooks fixed dishes that used scraps which would have otherwise been thrown out. Peanuts and soybeans were substituted tor animal products, cheese became more popular, and eggs were also included in many meals.

Fruits and vegetables were considered important to peoples' health on the homefront. Victory gardens were planted and included unusual plants that had high concentrations of necessary vitamins; the American diet now included food not normally grown or served on tables before the war. Gardens also included traditional and easily grown varieties of plants such as tomatoes. The fruits in these gardens could help sweeten dishes, not to mention the many other uses of homegrown vegetable dishes that were created by cooks during World War II.

Sugar, a crucial staple to the American cook, was now rationed. Creative cooks had to find new ways to cook old favorite dishes. Other sweeteners, like honey or syrup, were used to replace granulated sugar. Cooks could use fruits grown in gardens to sweeten dishes, and many did, using fruit juices in gelatin desserts and dried fruit in other dishes. Items bought in stores could also aid in substitution of sugar, such as pudding filling in pies, chocolate, and marshmallows. Any one of these substitutes was also sometimes used with granulated sugar.

Rationing and shortages made problems for every cook in Illinois; yet many solved these problems. Nutrition was considered important, and cooks tried their hardest to make healthy and tasty meals despite these difficulties. Cooking on the homefront may have posed challenges tor cooks; yet they became more creative and resourceful because of the war.— [From Ruth Berolzheimer, The Wartime Cookbook; Harriet Hester, Three Hundred Sugar Saving Recipes; Adolph A. Hoehling, Home Front U.S.A.; Victor Hugo Lindlahr, You Are What You Eat; Irma S. Rombauer, The Joy of Cooking; Archie Satterfield, The Home Front.]

72	ILLINOIS HISTORY / APRIL 1995