I’m getting a weekly government food box delivered to my door (I was deemed vulnerable due to health issues and living alone). The government should be applauded for getting this underway in such a short time, delivering over 300,000 boxes weekly, in conjunction with distribution companies such as Brakes and Bidfood.
The box contains basic essential foods for those self-isolating. According to the government it contains enough food for one person for a week and is compiled with the help of nutritionists. Everything is designed to be stored at ambient temperatures and the fresh foods, carrots, potatoes, apples, are long lasting.
The choices are quite random: a friend in a neighbouring borough gets completely different food. Nor are dietary requirements taken into account: I get cans of meat (which I give away) and my friend can’t eat most of her box as she is coeliac (a severe gluten allergy).
The last time the government started handing out food in the UK was during the second World War. How does it compare to rationing? In terms of choice, the 2020 foods do seem like something out of the 1950s.
1945 weekly rationing:
540g meat
230g bacon or ham
1 egg (double for vegetarians)
57g cheese (double for vegetarians)
250g sugar
57g loose tea
1.7 litres of milk
57g butter (so approximately a quarter of a pack)
113g margarine
57g lard (for cooking)
1 bar of soap or laundry soap
1 jar of jam or 2 jars of marmalade a month
340g sweets a month
1 tin of milk powder every two months
Fruit, vegetables and fish were not rationed but were difficult to obtain. Many shopkeepers would only sell one apple per week per person.
Today’s box would feed one person for seven days, at least two meals a day including breakfast, so no one would starve. But you would need some spices, oil, butter, cheese, salt, to make your dishes a little more flavoursome.
2020 Covid box:
Box of Ready Brek. I get this every week which is too much. I’ve tried to make other things such as flapjacks but I can’t say it was a success.
5 Carrots
2 kilos potatoes
1 large onion
5 Satsumas
6 small apples
500g packet of macaroni or spaghetti
2 x 500g packets of rice (basmati or long grain)
Pack of digestive biscuits ( good for a cheesecake base)
Can of meatballs or Fray Bentos meat pie
2 litres of long life milk
1 tin of tomatoes
Jar of ‘Bolognese’ sauce, without meat. (It has so much sugar in it that I added salt, garlic, olive oil and a couple of bay leaves to make it palatable.)
3 tins of soup (mushroom, vegetable or tomato)
Can of kidney beans or peas (make a bean salad or rice and ‘peas’)
Tin of baked beans in tomato sauce
Bar of soap (foamy)
Lynx body wash (I cannot use a bottle of this every week)
2 rolls of toilet paper
Loaf of pre-sliced white ‘Mother’s Pride’ style bread – while this is perfect for dainty and refreshing cucumber sandwiches, today many of us would prefer something along the lines of the ‘National Loaf’, hearty and wholemeal, available during World War 2 (and at the time, much complained about).
Can of tuna in brine. This can be used for tuna salad, sandwiches or added last minute to a tomato pasta sauce.
Box of long-life orange juice (I’ve been making gin and government orange cocktails with this)
Can of mixed fruit salad in juice
14 x PG Tips tea bags
50g sachet of instant coffee
The fresh food and the milk are incredibly useful, although dairy, protein and some basics such as cheese, oil, and butter is missing. (What are you supposed to put on your toast?) The government’s idea of a treat is a packet of plain digestives. Even in the war they got a 2 ounce bag of sweets in their rations! There is no sugar or eggs so baking would be difficult.
Mushroom Soup Macaroni Cheese
Ingredients
- 500 g macaroni
- butter for greasing the tin
- 2 410ml tins of mushroom soup
- 150 g cheddar or comté cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp ground pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c.
- Boil the macaroni in salty water in a large saucepan for 2 minutes less than it says on the packet. Drain.
- Grease the baking tin with butter and tip in the cooked macaroni
- Stir in the tins of cream of mushroom soup
- Grate the cheese on top and bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Add pepper and serve hot.
Government tuna pasta
Ingredients
- 50 ml olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar 'Bolognese' sauce
- 1 tin tuna in brine, well drained
- 500 g spaghetti or other pasta
- 2 tbsp sea salt. (1 for the pasta, 1 for the sauce)
Instructions
For the sauce:
- Take a deep frying pan on a medium heat and add 40ml of the olive oil
- When the oil is quite hot, add the chopped onion and fry on a low heat until soft
- Add the bay leaves
- Add the garlic
- Add the jar of sauce
- Add the salt
- Add 10ml of olive oil to the drained tuna which you add to the tomato sauce last minute
For the pasta:
- Using a large pan of boiling salted water, cook the pasta 2 minutes less than it says on the packet.
- Drain and toss in butter or olive oil. If not using, then stir it into the sauce very quickly before it sticks together.
Gin and Government Orange for Press Conferences
Ingredients
- Ice
- Gin/Vodka/fizzy white wine
- 1 litre Government Orange Juice
Instructions
- Take a tall cold glass, fill halfway with ice
- Put in a measure of gin or alcohol of your choice
- Top up with plenty of government orange juice
Cucumber sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2 slices white ready sliced bread
- salted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cucumber, thinly sliced rounds, skin on or off, you decide
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Butter both slices of bread. A sandwich bar trick is to use a rubber spatula for easy spreading.
- Place the thin rounds of cucumber on the bread.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Cut into four triangles and serve with a cup of tea or a glass of Pimms
The government is finally acknowledging that food poverty exists in the UK, at least during the Corona Virus lockdown, and announced on the 8th of May that they were giving 16 million pounds to food charities. But access to fresh foods, fruit, vegetables, cheese, butter and eggs could be improved along with meat alternatives such as nuts. The poor and the vulnerable can’t exist on cans alone.
Personally I haven’t been able to access any supermarket priority slots, which was supposed to be a feature of this scheme. Fortunately, as a chef, I have a good larder, but my quality of my diet has definitely suffered during lockdown.
Very interesting article. The government has done it’s best for vulnerable people. Like your recipes ……and the Corona cordial cocktail 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
ahem. I didn’t get any orange juice this week. maybe they saw my post and realised I wasn’t using it in an approved fashion.
It’s really interesting to hear about your experience with this. I’ve been working on the Camden side of things, with people who are and aren’t eligible for the government box.
Some are combining our box with the government box to meet their needs, some have dietary requirements the government box doesn’t cover, some have families of 8 isolating with them and the government box only has enough for one. Most aren’t eligible for the government box but are isolating either temporarily (due to virus exposure) or longer term due to health conditions.
The marmite ingredient in our box is chickpeas. Some people love them, some hate them and many tell me to leave them out. Others relish the challenge: “Because of my health condition I need to up the protein in my diet, chickpeas have protein so I’m going to figure out how to use them”. One man was taught how to make hummus by his Lebanese neighbour. I really want to write a chickpea cookbook when this is all over…
I’d kill for chickpeas
This is fascinating… I’d not heard much about these boxes in the media apart from early reports they were full of junk but your borough looks like they’ve done decent job. Am totally sold on the idea of mushroom soup macaroni cheese, my son and husband would love that. Looking at the wartime list I can’t help thinking the vegetarians were badly short changed by replacing 500g meat with bit of extra cheese and single egg?!
I love this post it is interesting and I feel the food boxes are one thing (at least) the government got right but I agree Id rather have a tin of chick peas any day over a fray bentos pie! Im tempted by the mushroom soup mac n cheese because although I love cooking Im lazy about making a cheese sauce for some reason!
it actually worked quite well.
I think you got some other cheese too.
I can’t believe there is no chocolate – surely that’s a British staple?!
nope. far too much fun. This week though I got a packet of hobnobs instead of digestives