Yesterday
I referred to the phrase “the kitchen front” used by the WW II Minister for
Food, Lord Woolton, according to a report in The Times of April 13, 1940. The
phrase was coined – presumably by Lord Woolton himself - at the beginning of a
campaign targeted at the housewife. The aim was to encourage the home-makers of
the land to play their part in the war effort by assisting the country to
reduce its dependence on imported food by a variety of strategies – including
vegetable gardening, reducing waste, and working around shortages and
rationing. Aside from the obvious benefit of being self-sufficient during
wartime, another important benefit was that transport ships would be freed up
for military use.
The
first use I have found so far of the phrase “the kitchen front” pre-dates the
article referred to yesterday by less than a week. In an article in The Times
of 8 April, the phrase appears in quotation marks, suggesting it was a new
“thing” on that date. The article was on potatoes – the staple vegetable at the
heart of British cuisine.
Potatoes.
The humble potato comes into its
own in wartime. Appealing to housewives for cooperation in holding “the kitchen
front” resolutely whatever conditions may arise, Lord Woolton, the Minister of
Food, has taken the potato as one example of an excellent food which is not
used to full advantage in many homes. The best part of the potato lies just
under the skin, and yet potato peelings are usually thrown away. If an
enterprising borough council collects household swill, as more authorities are
doing today, the waste is not so serious, but the truth remains that the
housewife is not obtaining the full value from the potatoes she uses. There is
no dearth of potatoes in the country. There have been plenty for every one so far,
and the Ministry of Food has just asked potato-growers to increase the acreage
for this season. There have been doubts in the minds of farmers and those with
allotments about the wisdom of growing more potatoes. Apparently farmers have
expected that allotment holders and gardeners would provide the additional
production needed this season, while allotment holders and gardeners have been
expecting the same of farmers.
In normal years this country
grows almost all the potatoes required for consumption in times of plenty, when
foodstuffs of all times are freely available. Next winter the potato may be
needed to take the place of food, which, for one reason or another, it is
desirable to import in smaller quantities. The potato is a great standby, as
the last War proved, and the kitchen front will be held more securely if the
crop is plentiful to excess. Any surplus potatoes can be used for feeding
livestock, and there are to be six potato factories in the chief growing areas,
where various useful products can be manufactured. No-one need doubt that all
the potatoes grown will be used in one way or another.
Potatoes did, in fact, become in short supply
at a few times both during the war itself and the rationing period which
continued for many years after it ended. In the autumn of 1940 however, there
was no fear of a potato-less diet, although in the spirit of encouraging the
housewife to innovate, new ideas for their use were suggested by the Ministry
of Food.
From Food
Facts No. 7, produced by the Ministry in the second week of September,
1940, here is a new idea – potato salad!
A New Salad.
Wash and drain a crisp lettuce,
put it in a bowl and pour over it a dressing made by mixing thoroughly 2
tablespoons salad oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, with salt and pepper to taste.
Turn the lettuce over and over in the dressing with a wooden spoon; then line
your bowl with it. Pile in the middle a grated raw carrot, a chopped apple, a
cupful of cooked diced potatoes, and decorate with chopped mint and a small chopped
onion.
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