RIGID RATIONING

Chronicle (Levin), 5 March 1946, Page 8

RIGID RATIONING

-Press Association

BRITAIN'S FOOD PLIGHT VISITOR QUOTES FIGURES

By Tetegraph-

WiiJ-.LXiNorj. UxM, lVXcXj.^.i ±. "This is the seventii winter of ngid ratLmuig at Home and I have not met Anyone optimistic enough to think that tjiere will be an eighth winter without it," said Sir Henry Erencn, formeny permanent secrstary of the Britisn .mnistry of Food, gt a Press conferen^v .n VVeliiiigton to-day. Sir Henry, who is visiUng New Zea Land to express appreciation on behaix of the British authorities for the Dominion's wartime food production eixort, added that it therefore followed that the United Kingdom reqiured the greatest possiole quantity oi Staple foodstuffs, especially meat and mL.products, from countries liKe N'ew nea.anrl. i

Unfortunately, this year's proauction _n New Zeaiand was bound to suft'er as a result of the unfavourable season, iaid Sir Henry. There had also been & drought in all the pther producmg countries, and this acidea to the grmi xess of the future outlook. After outlinmg the weekly allow ances of rationed commodities in Britain, Sir Heury said the diet of thcivilian population had been descrioe.. xs one short of all the more desiramt'oods. To make up for the lacx o.. .hese foods, the people had to eat moajulky cereal l'oods, like bread an.; ..otatoes.

Sir Henry said he had found the people in New Zeaiand very doaotfui Vhetlier the British rations' realiy .neant all the people receivecl. Broacuy speaking, they did. The reduction of hie total consamption of fooistulls an the United Eangdom in reiatioii tp pre war, was as foilo ws: Butter, oils aiiw rats, 85 per cent.; sugar, 69 per cent.; meat and bacon, 87 per cent.; poultry, game and fish, 76 per cent.; eggs anci ogg products (rnostly dried eggs), 9' per cent.; fruit and toinatoes, 73 pex cent.; tea, cofiee and cocoa, 87 per ceiifi. increases were shown for the following I foodstuffs: Bread, flour and other cereals, 119 per cent.; miik and nuik 1 products, excluding butter, 127 per | cent. ; potatoes, 161 per cent. ; vege1 tahles, includ-ng nuts, 113 per cent. , The priority classes, which comprise.; ; one-third of the people, consumed on^ | half of the liquid miik. "New Zeaiand producers, " contin.icc. ' Sir Henry, ' Hieed not oe greatiy coa ! cerned about the competition of mar ' garine. Butter has a status in fcue minds of the British people that the | war years have not reduced. "I ha/e hc-xrd people criti'cise Bri- ; tain for havlng sent food to France, i Belgium and Holland, hufc I am proud of the fact that in those days our ( Government decided to send 1,030,U!)„- | tons of food to Europe," said Sir | Henry in addressing trade union repreI sentatives at Trades Hall to-day. The ! people had talked' ahout what should ! be done with food snrpluses after the I war, but there would he no surpluses. ; All over the world' people had been I taken away from the land, with the result that the world 's production to-cia; was less.