The Grey River Argus MONDAY, May 17, 1943. FURTHER RATIONING.

Grey River Argus, 17 May 1943, Page 4

The Grey River Argus MONDAY, May 17, 1943. FURTHER RATIONING.

The Government has been giving sufficient warnings that further rationing of foodstuffs in New Zealand, particularly of butter and cheese, may 'be expected shortly. The public, which accepted the rationing of tea and sugar, and found that it caused little hardship, will not be unduly alarmed about having to curtail its consumption of these other commodities, even though they are things that New Zealanders thought would always be in plentiful supply. This country, however, has heavy commitments in the supply of foodstuffs, both to United Nations troops in New Zealand and to Britain. Actually it is unlikely that any rationing that may- take place will be a matter for serious concern from any point of view, for the people of this country have for a long time been probably accustomed to cat more than is necessary and perhaps more than is good for their health. The severe rationing of food in Britain has had no ill-effects on the -physical welfare of the British. _ Indeed, if repeated medical opinions are to be believed, it has had the opposite effect. Doctors say that the standard of health is now higher than it was before the "war, and they haVe added that a curtailed diet has given women more graceful figures and attractive features. Eating less has been the advice of doctors all over the world for many years even in times when foodstuffs were in plentiful supply. Various questions as to the method of rationing arise, however, and it will be interesting to see what the Government will do if it, introduces further rationing. There is no doubt that the requirements of different people vary greatly according to the kind of work they do. The first organised protest to be reported against a system which does not take this into account has been made by a meeting of timber workers at Kumara, who point out that their work and the need for taking cribs entitles them to more butter than men in other types of employment. The tbuth of this cannot, be denied, and there is no doubt that if these matters are not taken into account hardship will be caused to some, where others will not. suffer at all. Another point to consider is that some people eat more than the average of some particular food but are light consumers or even do not ask for some othcil commodity which is also in short supply. This has been recognised in Britain, where vegetarians, now a very popular clan, are allowed an extra ration of cheese. If some system of allowing for -compensating rations of this, kind could be made part of any new measure it is obvious that the effect of rationing would be less noticeable. It should be a fairly simple matter for a consumer to be able to sacrifice all or some of his allotment of one article of food for more of another. Whatever is done, however, it will probably be no very difficult matter for individuals to make adjustments to their diet. Meals have become standardised by convention and habit morq than by actual bodily needs, and the substitution of foods which have been little used but are in good supply for those that are scarce can be done more readily than might be thought. New Zealanders have not had much to ■complain of so far, and it is unlikely that the extent of further rationing will be any greater than to serve as a reminder of their good fortune compared with that of the people of other countries. ;