Tomorrow is the beginning of my intention to live on British rations from the 1940s during the forty days of lent. For every day that I manage, I will donate £1 to Prostate cancer UK. If I manage the 40 days I will donate £50. If anyone else wishes to donate, please visit http://www.prostatecanceruk.org
Preparations. Apart from enjoying the day before the new regime by consuming a family sized pork pie for lunch, I prepared some meals for the future. I will be documenting what I cook, today’s cost and how it may have been obtained in 1943.
Today I bought the following:
One box of frozen pork faggots for £1.50. On ration, cheaply available from the local butcher at minimal cost because made from offal, but still rationed. The meat ration was 1s3d per person per week, or about £2.25 in today’s money, using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, which gives a rough inflation rate from 1943 to 2023 of 36 times.
A vegetable stew pack of an onion, a swede, a parsnip and seven carrots for £1.10. In 1943 some of these vegetables might come from your garden plot, the rest from a local greengrocer. Vegetables were not rationed.
A 300g pack of mushrooms for 94p. At the time probably found locally. My father used go out early in the morning to pick mushrooms in 1950s.
Total cost: £2.54, or in 1943 terms about 1s 9d
This concoction was cooked on a low heat for three hours, then decanted into five ex-Chinese takeaway boxes for freezing. About 50p per meal, or in 1943 terms, 4d.
General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings 