SUGAR RATIONING

Under the headline "U.S. WILL LIMIT USE OF SUGAR  Pound a Week for Person Is Goal of Federal Rationing Program" the following article came out of Washington on January 24, 1942:  "Government rationing of sugar, it was announced tonight, will begin early next month with each person limited to about a pound a week.  Announcing the program, Price Administrator Leon Henderson said it was proposed, too, to recover excess stocks from persons who have hoarded supplies.  The prospective allowance of one pound per person a week compares with average per capita home consumption of about 1 1/2 pounds a week in 1941.  Henderson said there was an actual shortage of about one-third in the sugar supply, and that this, rather than hoarding, necessitated this first foodstuff rationing of this war.  Rationing books have been designed and printing of them will be started in a day or two, he said."

As an almost immediate follow-up, the booklet titled "Victory Begins at Home!  Recipes to Match Your Sugar Ration," and dated May 1942, was prepared jointly by the Bureau of Home Economics, United States Department of Agriculture, and the Consumer Division, Office of Price Administration.  The copy that came to me had been originally postmarked "Portland Oreg. May 29 1942 3pm," clear evidence the material was considered worthy of being sent out in a timely manner.

Inside the front cover the following message set the tone for the information to follow:  "Sugar rationing is here!  For most of us it will mean little change in eating habits.  For others it will mean cutting down on those sweets that food experts say aren't too good for us anyway.  It is going to mean more fruit desserts.  Use fresh fruits liberally in place of desserts that call for sugar.  Dried fruits are rich in sugar and can be used to sweeten many cooked foods.  Baking and cooking of other desserts can be done with less sugar.  The recipes in this bulletin will show you how.  Many of these recipes call for no sugar at all.  Others call for only small amounts.  And for those who happen to have sugar substitutes on hand, such as maple products, sorghum, or cane and corn sirup (sic), this bulletin will tell how to use them in place of sugar, in preparing the family's favorite desserts." 

The text also contained a grim warning, "The amount of sugar that will be available for home canning is not yet certain.”

A couple of pages later some good sugar-saving rules to follow at all times were listed: 

©    Serve cooked fruits hot to enjoy their fullest flavor and sweetness.

©    Save sirup from canned fruit to sweeten other fruit, pudding sauces, or beverages.

©    A pinch of salt increases the sweetening power of sugar in cooked food.

©    Be sure all sugar is completely dissolved to get its full sweetness.

After fourteen pages of recipes using little or no sugar, and lengthy instructions on how to substitute corn, cane, or maple sirup, or sorghum sirup, or honey for sugar, the Consumer Division, Office of Price Administration, Washington, D.C. invited the reader to write for additional copies of that bulletin in a well-planned effort to reach home-makers all over America with information to help win victory on the home front by reducing sugar consumption.

Not only was sugar needed in the war effort to add carbohydrates to rations and preserve rations prepared for shipment to our troops overseas, but at that time sugar was largely an import product that had to be shipped to the United States, and all merchant ships were needed for the war effort.  Sugar was indeed a big issue and concern, one that prompted the United States Department of Agriculture to embark on a public educational program that was very effective and productive.