Food and Rationing
Food and rationing What are the people doing in the picture? Why is there such a long queue? Do the people look happy? How would you feel if you were in the photo? Why did the photographer take the picture do you think? What does the picture tell us about life during the Occupation of France.
Eating Why is there a loaf of bread in the poster? What is the bread resting on? What do you think the poster is telling people to do and why? Do you think people did what they were told? Why couldn’t people eat what they wanted during the Occupation?
Madeleine writes….. 26 February 1942 For over a week there has been nothing for sale in Paris. No deliveries. Eating pasta every evening (luckily I had stocked up). Third winter!! Woe. […] Bread 275 grs per day. Fat 450 gr per month including 100 ml oil and 75 marg. Cheese 50 gr a week. Pasta 250 gr a month. Pulses 250 gr a month. Sugar 500 gr per month. Potatoes none. Meat 180 gr per week. Meat 90 gr a week. Coffee etc 250 gr a month or 60 gr of tea. Milk, eggs, vegetables etc nothing for the moment. Gas 15 cubic metres per month. Electricity 60 kw per month. Ration tickets, France 1940-1944
Questions for you! Ask your teacher to show you the amount of food Madeleine was eating on the weighing scales. What food is missing from her list in your opinion? If you were in Madeleine’s position, what food would you miss the most? Exercise: In pairs, make a meal recipe for two people from Madeleine’s list BUT imagine that you have no gas or electricity to cook the food with. What would you make?
TEACHERS RESOURCES The complete diary: https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/books/10.22599/Blaess/ The documentary film: https://digitalmedia.sheffield.ac.uk/media/Madeleine+Blaess/1_l4gvgxn6 Podcast on Everyday Life: ______________________s
KS1_Sustenance & rationing:Bibliography Ration Card: https://french-genealogy.typepad.com/genealogie/2012/07/a-french-familys- ration-cards-and-what-they-reveal-about-names.html