Eating
Turning ration stamps into healthy meals
Dedicated to "the Canadian Homemaker Whose Time is so Generously Devoted to the War Effort," this book offered hints on keeping the family fit, how to stretch the meat ration, wartime ingredient substitutions, "colourful salads in wartime menus," and desserts under rationing.
Stretching your rations with oats
This small recipe book provided suggestions for reducing the consumption of meat, butter, and sugar by using rolled oats in food preparation.
School lunches in wartime
This leaflet contains menu and cooking tips that were aimed at improving the nutrition of schoolchildren.
Temporary Ration Card
Temporary ration cards were issued to members of the armed forces on leave or visitors to Canada, such as tourists. The coupons had the same value as those in standard ration books but had no expiry date.
Food is Everybody's Business
This handbook describes Canada's Food Conservation Program and details the factors contributing to the increasing demand for domestic food production.
The Wartime Garden
This detailed bulletin offers advice for small- and large-scale vegetable gardens and outlines methods for soil preparation, planting, and cultivation.
Growing food in wartime
This pamphlet urges civilians with small backyards to produce their own healthy vegetables and offers advice on how to do so under wartime conditions.
Make the most of your meat ration
This pamphlet emphasizes preparation and preservation methods to extend one's meat ration.
"The Lunch Box is on the march"
This pamphlet offers ideas for healthy lunches based on Canada's official food rules and food groups.
Temporary ration card
During the Second World War, Canadians became accustomed to carrying coupons for most commodities, such as this temporary ration card.
Eat like the RCAF
Inspired by a Royal Canadian Air Force film entitled "Training Tables," this booklet was aimed at improving nutritional standards by encouraging Canadian civilians to eat as well as the men and women in uniform.
Using less sugar
Civilians were encouraged to be conservative with rationed food items. This document offers recipes for desserts, taking into account the strict rationing of sugar.
Foods for the post-war family
This guide provides rules for post-war healthy eating, approved by the Canadian Council on Nutrition.
Cooking for a crowd
This book sought to provide meal solutions for larger institutions, rather than homemakers. During the Second World War it was consulted by a Guelph, Ontario, food distribution company.
Home canning in wartime
To reduce the stress on resources, families were encouraged to increase the shelf life of their perishable foods by canning them at home. This is a guide to preparing and preserving fruits and vegetables, including berries, peaches, plums, and pears.
Rations for a soldier on leave
Soldiers on leave were issued with ration books so that they did not have to consume the rations of their civilian hosts.
Christmas Dinner, 1918
The staff of the Canadian Discharge Depot at Buxton made the 1918 Christmas festivities as pleasant as possible, in the full knowledge that the soldiers were desperately keen to get home.
Food rationing, 1944
This book of food ration coupons was issued to a Canadian soldier on leave in 1944.
Wartime Pickles and Relishes
A Second World War pamphlet describing alternative garnishes in light of wartime restrictions on the use of sugar.
Wartime Jams and Jellies
A Second World War pamphlet on making creative use of peaches, apples, and other late summer fruits.