BRITAIN’S FOOD RATIONS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9630, 10 April 1917, Page 2

BRITAIN’S FOOD RATIONS

PUTTING A. NATION ON ITS HONOUR. Lord Devonport has issued a , statement to impress upon tho whole of the people of Britain—men, women and children—that there is urgent need to limit the consumption of the staple foods, meat, bread and'sugar. He is loth to introduce compulsory rationing with the tiresome machinery of food tickets, and therefore, he appeals to all to consider it a point of honour that each household or individual shall strictly limit the consumption of these prime necessaries. Lord Devonport, in making his - proposals, takes tho household as a unit, thus leaving it possible for individual members of a family to have more or less of any one of these staple foods. Careful calculations have assured him that the weekly allowance for each person should not exceed Bread 4l *> (or its equivalent in flour, 31b for bread-making) Meat 2UI) Sugar Slh It is recognised that some persons eat more bread and less meat, or more meat and less bread, than the quantities indicated above. In all these cases a resolute effort on the part of each consumer to reduce consumption by at least lib of bread or ilb of meat per week, or both, will automatically -Bring about a saving of over 1,000,000 tans per annum of these foods. Owing to some uncertainty about his original statement, Lord Devonport issued a second, in which he explained Meat includes bacon, ham. sausages, game, rabbits, poultry and’tinned meats. The ration of 261 b means uncooked meat as bought from the butcher, and includes fat and bone. Housekeepers are expected to reduce their household consumption in so far aa members of the household take meals away from home. The allowance of flour for bread-mak-ing is expected to include that used for cakes, puddings, etc. Where housewives cannot afford to buy the full allowance of meat, and are consequently compelled to exceed the bread allowance of 41b per head per week, they are expected to keep their purchases of bread at least 11b per head per week below their previous consumption.