Food manufacturers took advantage of wartime shortages to flaunt their patriotism. Swift and Company proclaimed in its ads for Treet (similar to SPAM), "Meat is the materiel of war!" Stokely's proudly announced, "It takes food to win a war . . . and Uncle Sam's fighting men are the best fed in the world. We are proud to report that some part of every crop of Stokely's vegetables and fruits is being sent to the Allied Forces."
Grocers indulged in a little flag-waving of their own. A Saginaw, Michigan, Kroger ad cautioned, "Dont' waste your meat ration! Be sure! Be safe at Kroger's." It also provided lists of food items and the points needed to purchase them. Porterhouse steaks, at 39 cents a pound, required 8 points; rib roast only cost 7 points and 29 cents per pound (fresh whitefish did not require points).
Some stores sold only nonrationed items to attract the customers tired of trying to figure out what coupon went with which item. One Ypsilanti, Michigan, market stocked large amounts of canned turkey and chicken, pickled pig's feet, pastas, pancakes, pickles and eggs instead of rationed items.
Victory gardens were another way the average citizen dealt with food shortages and contributed to the war effort. The U.S. government proposed them as a national food-growing effort, similar to the Liberty gardens of World War I. The term "victory garden" dates back to a book entitled "Victory Garden" that was written in 1603 by Englishman Richard Gardner. Gardner argued, "if any citie or towne should be besieged with the enemy, what better provision for the greatest number of people can be than every garden to be sufficiently planted with carrots?"
Empty lots, school fields, former flower gardens and back yards were cultivated for Victory gardens, viable sources of fresh and preservable foods. Even people who had never held a hoe or spade or worked with fertilizers and seeds were raising tomatoes and green beans in tiny garden plots. For an investment of $1.30 for seeds (1940s prices). $1.50 for fertilizer, a full day's hard work to prepare the plot and approximately 7 to 8 hours per week tending the garden, the average family could enjoy 4 to 5 months' worth of fresh vegetables.
