Green Vegetables for Health & Vigour : Prevention is better than Cure

British Second World War poster, produced by the Department of Health for Scotland, encouraging people to eat green vegetables for health. The Minister of Food Control (1916–1921) and the Minister of Food (1939–1958) were British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture. A major task of the Minister of Food was to oversee rationing in the United Kingdom arising out of the Second World War. In April 1940 Lord Woolton, a prominent businessman, was appointed Minister of Food by Neville Chamberlain. Woolton retained this position until 1943. He supervised 50,000 employees and over a thousand local offices where people could obtain ration cards. His ministry had a virtual monopoly of all food sold in Britain, whether imported or local. His mission was to guarantee adequate nutrition for everyone. With food supplies cut sharply because of enemy action and the needs of the services, rationing was essential. Woolton was faced with the task of overseeing rationing due to wartime shortages. He took the view that it was insufficient to merely impose restrictions but that a programme of advertising to support it was also required. He warned that meat and cheese, as well as bacon and eggs, were in very short supply and would remain that way. Calling for a simpler diet, he noted that there was plenty of bread, potatoes, vegetable oils, fats and milk. 15,000 people eventually worked for the Ministry of Food. There were 18 Food Officers in Great Britain, and 1 in Northern Ireland; 1,500 Food Control Committees and 1,300 Local Food Offices, who distributed ration books and licenced shopkeepers to handle them. Food prices during the Second World War rose by 20% but the British population emerged healthier than it had ever been before, and families had been educated about putting nutritious, frugal meals on their tables.