Rationing: A Little Less

I have never considered the luxuries that we have in society today given that we are not required to ration our food.  During times of war it is often normal for countries to ration food and other items, in order for them to go towards the war effort.  In 2014, we are all pretty spoiled when it comes to the foods that we have, at least in this part of the world.  It is not often that you come across an area in the United States that the foods you need or want are not right around the corner.

I recently heard Dr. McClelland-Nugent give a lecture on rationing food.  Her lecture was very informative of the ways food is rationed and what foods were rationed in certain times.  It is hard to believe that there have been times that you were limited to an extremely small amount of cheese or meat.  I am extremely spoiled, because I am used to going to the grocery store five miles down the road to get whatever I need.  Food is always at an easy to reach access.

I recently read Amy Bentley’s “Islands of Serenity, Gender, Race, and Ordered Meals during World War II.” Bentley talks about women trying to feed their families during World War II with only the rationed supplies that they are allowed to have.  This had to be a struggle in order to make a full meal for an entire family when they were limited in what they could use.  Bentley does mention that many people ate about the same amount of food that they did before the war; however, due to the types of foods that were rationed, the quality of the food was a lot lower.  While it seems bad that people did not have all of the food necessary to make certain things, I found it interesting that many of the poor people had more food than they normally would have due to rationing.  It is fascinating to me that in such a hard time for the country, it is actually better for some people.  I guess this goes to show that things may not always be as bad as they seem.

Last week, I was able to see what it was like to have to cook with rationed supplies. My class prepared various recipes from “Recipes to Match Your Sugar Ration.”  I found it interesting that even though many food items were being rationed, they still found ways of having sweets and desserts.  They had to fulfill their sweet tooth somehow.  I chose to make an attempt of cooking the Quick Cinnamon Coffee Cake.  At first glance I already knew that this would not turn out as a normal cake, because the recipe did not call for all of the normal cake ingredients.  I bake often, so I am accustomed to the normal dessert requirements, and this recipe did not include them.  I began mixing the ingredients and began to realize that this was going to be more of a bread than a cake given that the mixture was a doughy texture.  I was nervous while mixing, hoping that it did not turn out awful.  After baking it and sprinkling the cinnamon and sugar on top, I concluded that this was more of a bread than a cake.  This makes sense since at the bottom of the recipe it says, “Serve warm as a bread or dessert.” The coffee cake was not awful; however, it would not be my go to cake recipe.  After participating in this experience, I have come to realize that I should be more grateful of all the things that I have at my fingertips.  This was definitely a learning experience!