Here are the rules I will be following for our Wartime Ration Challenge.

1. Just because something wasn’t rationed, doesn’t mean it was readily available. However, the goal of this challenge is to be healthier and less wasteful, not to accurately re-create wartime Australia to the most minute detail. Therefore, I am going to assume that stuff is there for me when I need it.
2. Our weekly ration amount is listed at the bottom of this post.
3. We will be rationing foodstuffs only – not clothes, soaps, sanitary items etc.
4. When rationing began, people did not empty out their cupboards and chuck out all the food they already had. Therefore, we will be using the stuff we already have in our cupboards without the slightest bit of guilt.
5. Unlike Britain, Australia had plenty of fresh fruit and veg during the war. Therefore, I will not be restricting these products.
6. During the war, milk would have been provided at school. This is no longer the case, however, so I will be giving my children the ration allocated to under 18s who did not attend school.
7. Cafe meals and restaurants were not rationed, so we will not be rationing them on the rare occasions that we get to indulge.
8. My children do not get birthday parties every year. Instead they are restricted to the years they turn 5, 10, 13, 16 & 21. As it would not be fair to have an awesome party for one child and not another (and we aren’t actually at war), I will not be rationing on those days.
9. Earth has several major health issues so, for the purposes of this challenge, he will be regarded as an invalid.
10. The rationing system I am using is a kind of melding of British and Australian rationing, with just a hint of American.

The Weekly Rations

• Tea – 250g every 4 weeks (the nearest package to 340g for Earth)
• Butter – 250g (nearest to 340g for Earth)
• Margarine – 125g
• Lard – 85g
• Suet – 250g every 3 months
• Sugar – 500g (nearest to 680g for Earth)
• Meat – 450g (700g for Earth)
• Ham & Bacon – 250g
• Eggs – 1 shell egg for me, 3 for Earth & the children plus 1 packet of dried eggs every month
• Cheese – 250g
• Milk – 1.7L for me, 3.4L for Earth, 2.8L for the children plus 1 tin or pack (c4.5L) of milk powder every 8 weeks
• Custard Powder – 1 pack every 3 months
• Sweets – 500g every month
• Sundrys – subject to the points system listed in a previous post.

The reasons why I have selected these amounts are given in an earlier post.

Unrationed

• Fresh fruits & veg
• Petfood
• Meat Pies
• Fish
• Offal
• Sausages & Frankfurters
• Game Meat
• Poultry
• Coffee

I will provide references to the webpages I used for my research in my next post.

Related articles

• The Rations – Food
• The Rations – Points
• Supersizers and World War Two
• Wartime Rations
• Eat, drink and be merry – what, on these wartime rations?
• Coupons and Rationing During WWII

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Tags: Austerity, australia, Bacon, Britain, earth, food, fruit, Ham, Rationing, Rations, Rules, United States, wartime rations, World War Two, ww2, WWII