FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - New book! "A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression"

jinx the minx

Janet > wrote:
> In article <1890456931.493400481.445508.jinxminx2-
> >, says...
>>
>> Janet > wrote:
>>> In article -
>>> september.org>, says...
>>>>>> I heard something about Depression Era cooking on NPR recently, but
>>>>>> it seemed that the recipes were really bland and sad.
>>>>>> They didn't want people "enjoying" their rations too much...
>>>>>
>>>>> John, rationing was during wartime. There was no rationing in the USA
>>>>> depression, just a lack of funds and jobs.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> You are incorrect. There most definitely was food rationing during the
>>>> Great Depression.
>>>
>>> You're confusing shortages and poverty with govt food rationing. They
>>> are not the same thing.
>>>
>>> Janet UK
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Regardless of any formalized government rationing system there was still
>> informal rationing that was done even if only done at the local or home
>> level.
>
> Now you're confusing people in the Depression necessarily "making do
> with less", with rationing.
>
> There was nothing informal or local about food rationing; it was
> compulsory and imposed on all, rich and poor.
>
> Janet UK
>
>
>
>
>

Yes, except the OP wasn't talking about government formalized rationing.
She was talking about the rationing done as part of "making do" during the
Depression, which was done at home, in school lunch programs, through
breadlines, soup kitchens and other avenues of public food distribution,
etc. Because it wasn't imposed uniformly on all by the government doesn't
make it any less "rationing". Perhaps "enjoying their rations" as the OP
stated wasn't the most apt terminology since she wasn't talking about
rations received through a government stamp program, but I understood what
was meant.

--
jinx the minx