Citizen Involvement in the War Effort at Home— Food Rationing

The main focus for students in the four lessons outlined below is to have them look at food rationing and see how families during WWII handled food rationing. Additionally, how did food rationing help the war effort? This unit is set up to have students look at primary sources both from Illinois and nationally. Background: Citizens were asked to help in the war effort from the recycling of scrap metal, paper, grease and dead farm animals, to canning basic foods. Additionally, “[a] bout 20 items-- including rubber, gasoline, liquor, and canned goods –were rationed because the resources used to produce or transport these goods, such as tin used for canned goods, were needed to produce or transport equipment and supplies for the troops. … The first item rationed was sugar, in April 1942. The issuing of War Ration Book One to all Americans the following month created shortages of many other goods. It also led to a thriving black market in both rationed goods and phony ration books. ” By February 1943, War Ration Book Two was issued “limit[ing] purchases of certain goods by assigning these goods points and allowing each person a certain number of points per year. ” This enabled the Office of Price Administration (OPA) to control the distribution and sale of items and thus “prevent[] acute shortages and high inflation. ” (Price, p.14-15) (For more information on rationing see