Feeding the nation in wartime - The Ministry of Food

Britain has not been self-sufficient in food since the late 18^th Century, and this was made worse from 1870 by the innovation of steam-driven refrigerated shipping at the same time as a great down-turn in British farming. It was a near-fatal problem during the First World War, and was well appreciated as WW2 approached.

At the outbreak of war Britain was importing around 70% of its food, some 20 million tons per year. This included 50% of meat, 75% of cheese, tea, and butter, 80% of fruit. Australia. Canada, New Zealand and the USA were major suppliers with New Zealand alone supplying 15% of meat, 25% of butter and 50% of cheese. Clearly there would be considerable shipping losses from enemy action in the event of war, with subsequent shortages, and the basics of a rationing system were in place and 50 million ration books printed when it came.

The Ministry of Food was established on 4th September 1939 under William Morrison. However there was considerable opposition to rationing both in parliament (Churchill was opposed, deeming it ‘defeatist’) and in the press and it did not start until 8th January 1940. Lord Woolton took over from Morrison on 3rd April 1940.

The responsibilities of the Ministry included the procurement and shipping of supplies, distribution to shops and institutions, the rationing scheme and the associated price controls and subsidies. Eventually there were around 15,000 staff, mostly located in Colwyn Bay and working from improvised offices in hastily requisitioned premises. The whole operation was controlled by a small staff in London together with 19 Food Officers, 1500 Food Control Committees and 1300 Local Food Officers scattered around the country.

Rationing was not just about fair shares for all at reasonable prices.. The government, advised by nutritionists, believed that there was a strong link between diet and health and rations were carefully devised to maximise the health benefits from the food that was available. The scheme was also set up to ensure that the basic rations could be reasonably guaranteed whereas supply of those rationed through the points system or not rationed, varied and could not be guaranteed.

Supply negotiations were primarily between governments, and Woolton led many himself. He used the hard-headed techniques he had learned as Managing Director of Manchester based Lewis’s, Britain’s largest department store, much to the consternation of his officials who were used to bureaucratic, slow moving, civil service procedures. The quantities could be huge – a deal with Canada in 1940 for 190,000 tons of bacon and 124 million bushels of wheat (about 332,000 tons) was typical.

Shipping was a continual problem due to both losses from enemy action and the fact that ships originally allocated to food transport were often diverted to military use at the last minute. Woolton had many battles in Cabinet over priorities.

Given the unpredictability of supplies and the complexities of distribution things often went wrong and at times, particularly in 1940 and 1941, the Ministry in general and Woolton in person, came in for heavy criticism in both parliament and the press. Yet he remained in post until 12th November 1943 (when he was appointed Minister of Reconstruction), to be followed by Colonel J. J. Llewellin, subsequently Lord Llewellin, who served to the end of hostilities.

By the middle of 1943 shipping losses had been very substantially reduced as Britain and its allies, notably the USA and Canada, had almost overcome the U-boat menace thanks to more and better equipped escorts and aircraft together with information on U-boat movements from the code breakers at Bletchley Park. At the same time, however, the need had gone up: the huge invasion forces assembling in Britain had to be fed and equipped, increasing the demand for shipping. New ships exceeded losses, but even so food rationing had to continue, and indeed to tighten.

Things did not improve after the end of the war. Bread was rationed for the first time only in July 1946, and there was plenty of newspaper reporting of cargoes expected, and articles of appreciation about the effort of Australia and New Zealand to help ‘the Mother Country’.

The situation improved in the early 1950’s, and food rationed ceased in July 1954, although there was still plenty of official advice on optimising food stocks. The Ministry of Food was abolished in April 1955 when it was merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.