British rationing — Morrison and the principle

In 1939, the United Kingdom imports about 70 percent of its food. Her merchant marine, 3,000 commercial vessels strong, is the world's largest, but it remains vulnerable to U-boats and magnetic mines — the latter threat proving crucial from November 1939. Without an active policy, the war effort would expose the country to famine.

On 25 September 1939, William Shepherd Morrison, 46, is appointed Minister of Food, at the head of a Ministry of Food revived from the First World War. A lawyer by profession, a veteran of the Great War, Conservative, he has a plan prepared from 1936 by the Committee of Imperial Defence, but he must translate it into concrete measures. The first dispositions, taken in October and November 1939, already sketch out the system: individual ration books distributed to the 47 million citizens, sorted into categories — adults, children, pregnant women, heavy-industry workers — each purchase requiring the presentation of coupons by product.

Rationing is announced for 8 January 1940, to allow three months of administrative preparation. The first foodstuffs concerned are bacon (4 oz per week), butter (4 oz), and sugar (12 oz), with others to follow over the coming months. The principle of allocation remains to be set. Should rations be graduated according to physical effort and income, or should the same share be imposed on everyone, regardless of occupation or wealth? The choice bears at once on the efficiency of the war effort and on the country's social cohesion.