Viva Vitality: Wartime rationing inspired nutrition tips

By Pat MacIntosh on November 7, 2025.

As Remembrance Day approaches, many Canadians are preparing to honour the sacrifices made by those who served in times of war. However, I have also been thinking about the less-known aspect of wartime rationing. During both the First and Second World Wars, the Canadian government brought in food rationing to support the war effort and ensure fair distribution of limited food supplies. Families received a ‘ration book’ with coupons that were traded for items such as sugar, eggs, meat, butter, cheese, and coffee. Food rationing forced people to get creative with cooking and many of those practices continue today.

Here are my top five rationing inspired tips.

1. Source local. During the war, Victory Gardens were encouraged so families could grow their own vegetables and fruits in backyards and public parks. Growing or buying local still helps ensure freshness and can lower cost.

2. Stretch ingredients with smart substitutes. Use mashed bananas or fruit sauces instead of eggs and powdered or canned milk instead of fresh milk. Fruit sauces or dried fruit such as raisins can also help sweeten desserts using less added sugar.

3. Embrace plant-based proteins. Canned or dried beans, chickpeas and lentils are easy, low-cost meat substitutes. You can use them instead of meat in soups and casseroles or to stretch the meat in sauces and chili. As an added bonus, plant-based proteins are also high in fibre and low in saturated fat.

4. Reduce food waste. Adopt a ‘waste not, want not’ approach by using leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Find new uses for things that are often thrown away such as using vegetable peels or meat bones for soups. Use dried bread to make bread puddings or croutons or crush it to make your own bread crumbs.

5. Cook from scratch. Adapt recipes to cook with fewer ingredients. Make meals simple and hearty rather than fancy. Stews and soups that make use of tougher cuts of meat can be stretched for many meals. Less processed meats such as whole chickens, pork loins and roasts are often lower cost as you have to cut and prepare them yourself. Less processed foods also tend to be lower in salt, sugar and saturated fat which is good for your health.

For a wartime inspired recipe try this Lentil and Rice Soup https://bit.ly/46bw0bx or Oatmeal Muffins with Molasses https://bit.ly/4pf5iaN.

This Remembrance Day, as we pause to remember those who served, let’s reflect on how we can each do our part to make food systems more affordable and sustainable.

You can find more information on buying local, adapting recipes, reducing food waste and cooking at home at unlockfood.ca.

Pat MacIntosh is a registered dietitian with Alberta Health Services, Nutrition Services.