A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46
SECTION I
FOOD ITEMS
Introduction
The purpose of this part of the inquiry was to find out what kinds of food were taken on the day to which the interview referred. And particularly to ascertain what proportion of informants took certain protein and protective foods at least once. Only information on the kind of daily intake was sought, and no attempt was made to get information on the quantities. The Ministry of Food is making a continuous study of the quantities of food absorbed by families. This survey attempts to supply supplementary information on individual meals.
The question put to informants was “What did you have yesterday for your:-
breakfast, mid-morning, midday meal, mid-afternoon, evening meal, late evening.”
As the interview always referred back to the previous day, interviews for Sunday were carried out on a Monday, those for Tueday on Wednesday, and so on. Because of this method, there were no interviews for Saturday, with just a few exceptions in the case of interviewers who work on Sunday. As far as was possible, it was attempted to distribute interviews evenly over the other days of the week. Steps were taken to ensure that equal proportions of each occupation were interviewed on each day.
This kind of sampling has, theoretically at least, one serious drawback, in the fact that we did not get information on the food intake for a whole week. There was the danger that the day to which the interview referred might not present the average intake of all the days of the week, but might be an exception. In practice, however, it was found that the results for different days of the week more or less identical, with the exception, of Sunday, the results for which are represented separately.
At the end of this section an attempt is made to estimate roughly how many people are deficient in certain nutrients.
Results
Certain food items are taken by the overwhelming majority of the people in the different groups, and for those items few group differences can be found, with the exception of minor sex differences. Meat, bacon, sausage, bread and spread, and potatoes come within this category.
There are great differences in connection with such food items as milk, taken as a beverage; not only is it taken by more women than men, but the percentage of men taking it ranged from 19% of the miners to 45.8% of the clerical workers.
Vegetables are not taken by everybody.
The proportion of men and women taking cooked puddings was not more than a quarter, and the number taking soup was negligible.
Women, as compared with men, have more cakes and biscuits, especially those in industry. There was also a greater number than men who had fruit - housewives in particular, in this case.
Cheese is eaten by more men than by women. The highest percentage who ate it was among agricultural workers (65.7%).
It seems that the consumption of food does not only vary with occupation, but also with the place of interview for the group. Unfortunately, our material is not sufficient to give us more than an indication that a more detailed investigation might give useful information on this point.
Children: Nearly all the children had potatoes, either boiled, or in the form of chips, at least once a day. A considerable proportion of the sample had no other vegetables, and of the children under five an even higher proportion. Practically all children under five had milk in the form of a beverage or as milk pudding, but it was not taken by well over a quarter of the over-12s.
A very small percentage of the children under five had cheese (9.9%), and even in the case of the 13-16s, not quite a quarter took it.
Nearly half of the children under five had cereals at least once a day, and in the oldest group over a third took them.
Sunday is a very special day for food, much more of all the essential foods being eaten on that day than during the week. The average food intake does not vary among the other days of the week.
An estimation of the food nutrients taken by the different groups suggest that the miners are the worst-fed, and the clerical and distributive workers the best fed in the sample. Among women, working women seen to have a nutritional advantage over housewives.
It should be remembered that these assessments are based on kinds of food and might have to be qualified if size of portions could be taken in to account.
Food Items Taken
The next tables present the percentage of people who had certain food items during the day before the interview. The results are presented separately according to sex and also for occupation wherever the sample figures are big enough. In a number of occupations, in light industry for example, food, printing, etc., the sample figures are not large enough to allow for separate treatment, therefore a total for light industry is given, including the occupations presented separately plus the others. No totals are shown for heavy industry since the five occupations analysed cannot be regarded as providing a representative sample of heavy industry as a whole. The figures in brackets are the probable error estimated at two standard deviations.
The outstanding facts presented by these tables are:-
Men ; Great occupational differences. For example, the number who have milk varies from 45.8% of the clerical workers to 16.1% o of the transport workers. On an average, the proportion taking milk was less than a third, although the investigation was carried out during a time of unrestricted milk supply.
Only about one-quarter of the sample had cooked puddings; not including stewed fruit or milk pudding the range varies from 16.8% in transport to 42.1% in light industry.
There was a very high percentage having meat, sausage or bacon, especially in heavy industry, where practically everybody had some sort of meat at least once a day. The same was true of potatoes in all occupations.
With the exception of the agricultural workers where two-thirds had cheese, it was only taken by about one-third in all the other occupations.
There are great occupational variations among the porportions taking fish; they range from 6% of the agricultural workers to a third of the dockers.
Very few people took either rice or barley.
Women : Comparing the food intake of working women with that of men, it can be seen that more women take milk, puddings, cakes and biscuits, and fruit, and a slightly smaller number eat meat, otherwise there are no great differences.
The food consumption of men and women in the comparable occupations shows similar trends, e.g. the clerical workers of both sexes take more milk than those in any other occupation, and the lowest proportion drinking milk is to be found among both male and female transport workers.
Housewives, are similar to working women insofar as similar numbers take vegetables, cereals, cheese, meat and milk, but fewer housewives have cooked puddings, cakes, biscuits, eggs, bread and fat, or soup.
TABLE 1
Food Items Taken during the day before Interview
| MALE | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Docker | Shipyard | Miner | Iron & Steel | Agriculture | Building | Chemical | Transport | Leather & Textile | Distributive | Clerical | Total Light | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Milk beverages | 25.7±4.9 | 24.8±4.9 | 19.0±3.9 | 12.9±3.4 | 33.9±4.2 | 16.6±4.5 | 33.9±4.8 | 16.1±3.0 | 29.9±7.6 | 36.7±5.2 | 45.8±5.8 | 28.0 |
| Milk puddings | 16.9±3.8 | 27.6±5.1 | 14.2±3.5 | 15.7±3.7 | 18.4±3.7 | 16.5 | 13.2 | 16.3 | 18.1 | 13.1 | 21.2 | 16.0 |
| Custard, blanc mange | 8.4 | 10.5 | 4.1 | 9.9 | 10.0 | 11.3 | 16.9 | 13.6 | 20.9 | 20.2 | 20.2 | 17.9 |
| Buns, cake, biscuits | 38.2±4.9 | 54.9±5.6 | 25.8±4.4 | 28.2±4.5 | 47.5±4.5 | 42.6±5.9 | 58.7±5.0 | 47.0[Text Missing]4.1 | 61.4±8.2 | 63.9±5.2 | 20.7±5.3 | 55.7 |
| Chocolate, sweets | 6.7 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 4.4 | 9.7 | 13.7 | 18.8 | 9.6 |
| Bread only | 47.5 | 32.0 | 44.1 | 53.8 | 51.9 | 37.6 | 25.6 | 32.0 | 32.6 | 23.6 | 29.0 | 28.7 |
| Bread and fat | 80.0 | 81.3 | 80.7 | 88.8 | 86.4 | 89.7 | 91.2 | 89.3 | 84.1 | 86.4 | 82.8 | 88.0 |
| Bread, fat, savoury | 11.2 | 17.5 | 17.0 | 12.4 | 8.0 | 3.2 | 7.2 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 6.1 | 43.7 |
| Bread, fat, sweet | 18.2 | 22.2 | 23.2 | 16.5 | 29.0 | 40.5±5.8 | 36.7±4.9 | 28.6±3.7 | 37.5±8.1 | 35.8±5.2 | 51.8±5.8 | 10.9 |
| Bread, savoury | 6.5 | 9.5 | 4.4. | 2.1 | 5.6 | 10.9 | 8.5 | 9.8 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 6.4 | |
| Bread, sweet | 1.8±1.5 | 5.0±2.5 | 23.1±4.2 | 9.4±2.9 | 3.4±1.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 2.4 | |
| Fruit, stewed fruit | 15.9 | 17.2 | 12.9 | 21.1 | 18.8 | 9.5±3.6 | 14.5±3.6 | 14.6±2.9 | 20.9±6.8 | 19.4±4.6 | 28.3±5.2 | 18.7 |
| Cereal | 13.8±3.5 | 23.2±4.9 | 9.1±2.9 | 3.3±1.7 | 19.4±3.5 | 18.7±4.6 | 23.5±4.3 | 19.4±3.2 | 21.6±7.6 | 26.7±4.7 | 45.1±5.8 | 25.5 |
| Potatoes | 80.5±4.0 | 83.8±4.1 | 64.3±4.8 | 76.2±4.3 | 84.1±3.3 | 77.4 | 78.7 | 72.5 | 77.1 | 75.0 | 82.5 | 97.4 |
| Crisps, chips | 19.0±4.0 | 21.6±4.7 | 35.4±4.8 | 17.8±3.9 | 6.1±2.1 | 16.2 | 19.7 | 21.0 | 21.6 | 25.9 | 15.8 | |
| Root vegetables | 2.3 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 5.2 | 20.8 | 25.9 | 13.7 | 20.2 | 17.6 | 24.6 | 20.1 |
| Green vegetables | 41.8 | 41.3 | 39.5 | 48.5 | 45.5 | 31.0±5.5 | 34.6±4.8 | 32.5±3.9 | 50.1±8.3 | 36.7±5.2 | 44.0±5.8 | 37.8 |
| Raw vegetables (incl. lettuce) | 9.1) | 16.2) | 16.4) | 26.4) | 14.0) | 9.1 | 14.7) | 12.0 | 24.4 | 21.0 | 22.2 | |
| Salad | 15.9)24.0 | 10.0)26.2 | 6.1)22.5 | 7.1)33.5 | 15.2)29.2 | )15.0 | )23.2 | 17.6 | ||||
| Carrots | 2.1 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 3.8 | - | 0.3) | - | - | - | 1.0) | |
| Lentils, peas, beans | 16.8 | 25.4 | 10.4 | 17.5 | 4.2 | 8.4 | 13.9 | 12.3 | 17.4 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 12.7 |
| Rice, barley (not Rice Pudding) | 0.5 | 0.3 | - | - | 0.4 | - | 1.0 | - | - | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.7 |
| Meat) | 75.0 | 81.2 | 71.6 | 80.4 | 68.5 | 88.6 | 89.8 | 88.7 | 92.4 | 92.1 | 94.0 | 91.0 |
| Bacon, sausage meat) | 49.1 | 55.9 | 38.5 | 46.5 | 51.1 | |||||||
| Fish | 33.2±4.8 | 27.3±5.0 | 20.8±4.1 | 18.8±4.0 | 5.6±2.1 | 16.9 | 19.1 | 22.1 | 19.5 | 24.4 | 22.6 | 20.7 |
| Egg | 18.7 | 21.3 | 23.1 | 20.6 | 29.5 | 17.3 | 23.0 | 24.5 | 27.1 | 29.8 | 26.6 | 24.9 |
| Cheese | 32.5 | 31.1 | 36.0 | 37.3 | 65.7 | 40.5 | 39.2 | 35.0 | 37.6 | 35.8 | 38.0 | 38.7 |
| Soup | 10.1 | 9.5 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 7.2 | 12.7 | 13.9 | 13.0 | 4.2 | 18.2 | 22.2 | 15.1 |
| Cooked pudding | 29.9 | 34.6 | 17.2 | 24.1 | 23.8 | 17.3±4.6 | 30.7±4.7 | 16.6±3.1 | 42.5±8.2 | 31.8±5.0 | 42.1±5.7 | 27.3 |
| No.: answering question | 385 | 315 | 395 | 394 | 499 | 284 | 387 | 591 | 144 | 352 | 297 | 2056 * |
TABLE 2
Female
Food Items Taken during the day before interview
| Chemical | Transport and Public Utility | Leather and Textile | Distributive | Clerical | Total Light Industry | Housewives | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Milk & Milk beverages | 33.0±5.9 | 26.0±6.2 | 32.9±5.6 | 42.7±4.2 | 55.1±5.5 | 40.4±1.8 | 36.4±1.9 |
| Milk puddings | 12.2 | 12.2 | 20.6 | 17.6 | 15.7 | 15.9±2.1 | 22.8±1.6 |
| Custard, blancmange | 20.8 | 15.8 | 24.5 | 21.0 | 30.1 | 23.0±2.2 | 15.1±2.3 |
| Cakes, buns | 67.1±5.9 | 54.5.±7.1 | 63.3±5.5 | 72.0±3.9 | 78.8±4.5 | 69.3±2.1 | 48.4±1.2 |
| Biscuits | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | ||
| Chocolates, sweets | 16.1±4.6 | 14.3±5.0 | 15.0±4.2 | 28.8±3.9 | 38.5±5.4 | 24.4±2.0 | 6.9±2.1 |
| Bread | 18.8 | 26.6 | 24.8 | 20.5 | 23.2. | 22.1 | 32.7 |
| Bread & fat | 90.2 | 82.7 | 87.0 | 87.1 | .85.2 | 86.9 | 83.7 |
| Bread, fat savoury | 6.3 | 4.1 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 45.5 | 44.4 |
| Bread, fat, sweet | 37.3±6.4 | 29.2±6.5 | 37.1±6.0 | 42.9±4.2 | 52.0±5.5 | ||
| Bread, sweet | 2.8 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 9.5 | 10.4 |
| Bread, savoury | 8.3 | 8.2 | 5.6 | 7.0 | 7.5 | ||
| Fresh, canned & stewed fruit | 14.2± 4.3 | 12.2±4.6 | 22.0±4.9 | 21.2±3.5 | 36.4±5.3 | 22.2±2.0 | 30.9±2.1 |
| Cereal | 10.6 | 18.9 | 12.6 | 18.3 | 28.6 | 18.5 | 18.2 |
| Potatoes | 77.2±5.3 | 64.3±6.8 | 80.3±4.8 | 65.5±4.1 | 77.7±4.6 | 98.7±0.5 | 92.4±1.2 |
| Crisps, Chips | 27.1 | 32.2 | 21.6 | 285 | 19.9 | ||
| Root vegetables cooked | 20.4 | 10.2 | 12.6 | 17.0 | 20.2 | 16.4±1.8 | 8.5±1.3 |
| Green vegetables cooked | 31.4±5.8 | 32.6±6.7 | 48.5±5.9 | 30.2±4.0 | 43.3±5.4 | 37.0 | 38.3 |
| Green vegetables raw (incl. lettuce) | 14.6 | 20.4 | 26.2 | 24.6 | 31.0 | 24.1 | 36.1 |
| Root vegetables raw | - | - | 1.0 | - | - | ||
| Peas, beans, lentils | 14.1 | 15.3 | 19.9 | 11.6 | 13.3 | 14.4 | 13.4 |
| Rice, barley (Rice pudding not include | 0.4 | - | - | 0.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Meat, bacon | 88.2 | 86.7 | 90.2 | 81.4 | 86.6 | 85.7 | 82.1 |
| Fish | 23.2 | 16.3 | 19.2 | 25.5 | 25.6 | 22.7 | 21.4 |
| Cheese | 28.2 | 25.5 | 26.9 | 25.8 | 30.1 | 27.5 | 28.7 |
| Eggs | 23.2 | 25.0 | 28.6 | 29.1 | 27.1 | 27.2 | 19.1 |
| Soup | 16.5 | 8.7 | 3.1 | 17.0 | 15.4 | 13.2 | 6.8 |
| Cooked pudding | 29.8±5.7 | 14.8±5.1 | 38.7±5.8 | 30.9±4.0 | 43.3±5.4 | 23.0±2.1 | 15.1±1.6 |
| No. answering: question | 255 | 196 | 286 | 536 | 332 | 1605 * | 1948 |
Food items taken by occupation and place of interview.
The intake of food not only varies, according to occupation, there are also variations within the occupations themselves. It was only possible to work out place differences for occupation in heavy industry, as the light industry sample in each place was too small to allow of such comparisons.
The samples are small, but the differences for some occupations in different places are statistically significant, e.g. the milk consumption of dockers in London and Liverpool, or the greater food intake of miners in Nottingham than in the Rhondda. This latter result is especially interesting, if it is related to the fact that the Nottingham mines visited by us were the only mines with canteens serving hot meals. As said above, the main result of this table is its suggestions for further investigations into the environmental factors influencing the food intake of certain groups. (See Table 3, page 7).
TABLE 3. FOOD ITEMS TAKEN
Sunday and weekday meals
Another factor has to be taken into account, which is that Sunday is still a special day regarding food for quite a number of people. This fact is shown in the following table where certain food items taken during the week and on Sundays are compared. All the weekdays are taken together, as no differences in the intake of the different items were found during the week. The results are separate for the three different samples, light industry, heavy industry, and housewives, in order to reveal any common tendencies.
TABLE 4.
Food items Taken - Sunday as against the rest of the week
Adequacy of food consumption
It was suggested by the Ministry of Food Dieticians that we attempt a rough estimation of the intake of the most important nutrients but not calories. For this purpose, two classification scales were provided.
These scales are necessarily very crude, as nothing is known about the quantitative aspect of the food taken, and the results achieved with this method on page 11 should be interpreted with great care, and be mainly used for the purpose of comparing the food intake of the different occupation groups.
Method I. Classification by Food Items Taken
An attempt was made to estimate the food intake of the informant during the previous day with respect to animal and vegetable proteins, minerals and Vitamin C in accordance with the following groups:-
In this classification, Milk = Milk, mild beverages and milk pudding
Eggs = Eggs and cheese
Meat = Meat, bacon and fish
Veg. = All vegetables except potatoes
Fruit = All fruit, raw, canned and stewed
Method II Classification by Meal Type
The second method used consists of two stages, and is an attempt to estimate roughly the intake of the most important nutrients including calories.
(a) The food intake of a person at a meal was summarised under meal types of the following order:-
Meal Type E . This is a fairly well balanced meal consisting of a hot or cold protein dish.
and
(two or more vegetables,)
(or)
(one vegetable and bread and spread)
and
(soup)
(or)
(pudding, fruits or cake etc.)
Exception . In a very few cases a breakfast consisting of cereal, bacon and egg and bread and spread was eaten. This was classed as meal type E.
Meal Type F . May sometimes consist of -
a hot or cold protein dish
and
two or more vegetables
or
it may be an E meal which lacks one vegetable. If it does not contain animal protein, it must contain an appreciable quantity of vegetable protein. It can easily have as high a calorie content as meal type E.
Meal Type G . Is similar to F, but contains a small number of substantial food items, and is less likely to contain appreciable quantities of vegetables.
Meal Type H . Contains no main animal protein dish except possibly milk or milk beverage.
It may or may not contain vegetables
It never contains more than two food items.
Meal Type I . Is similar to H, but never contains more than one food item.
(b) The combinations of meal types taken during a day were grouped into five classes:-
Classification of daily consumption, III
Adequacy of food consumption
As we have already said, the method used is very rough, no quantitative data on the consumption of food being available. We would like to remind the reader of this fact before the following tables are interpreted. But however careful one should be in drawing conclusions from the numerical relations of the different groups, the two tables do provide comparative material between the groups.
TABLE 5
Method I. Adequacy of consumption of animal & vegetable proteins, minerals and Vitamin C
This table decidedly indicates that among the occupational groups investigated the miners are the worst and the clerical and distributive workers the best fed.
The results for males and for females in light industry are extraordinarily similar.
TABLE 6
Method II. Distribution of different classes of daily consumption
Occupational differences very similar to those in Table I may be observed. In both cases, miners stand out as the worst-fed group, and clerical workers as the best-fed. Housewives’ diets are not so seriously deficient in calories as they are in other nutrients.
Children
The results in this section are based on interviews with two different samples. Interviews for the “mothers’” sample were held with mothers about the food intake of their children. The “Schoolchildren” sample was questioned by means of forms filled up by the children themselves in school. The results of the two inquiries are not strictly comparable, as the age composition of each is different; the “mothers” sample included 44% under five, and also children over 14 who were still at school, whereas the bulk of the “school children” sample was between 8 and 14. We are ignoring sex differences, as it is assumed that boys and girls get the same kind of food and about the same quantity; in any case, we had no information on this point.
The table below shows the percentage of children who had the different food items during the day to which the interview refers. The three age groups in the “mothers’” sample are compared with the “School children’s” sample.
TABLE 7
Food Items Taken
The outstanding facts emerging from this table are as follows:- Well over 10% of the older children had no milk, even if account is taken of milk puddings. More cakes, buns and biscuits than cooked puddings are eaten. Nearly all the children had potatoes or chips at least once a day, but a considerable number had no other vegetables. A relatively high percentage had cereals, but comparatively few had cheese.
Comparing the age groups, it can be seen that the young children under five have more milk and cereals, but less meat, vegetables and cheese than the older children.
On the whole, there are no great differences between the two samples. The main difference seems to be in the consumption of chocolates and sweets; as the children bought these themselves, the mothers did not know about them. (The investigation was carried out before sweet rationing came in).
Milk
Milk consumption, is a very important issue, and therefore the school-children were asked a special question, “How many cups of milk did you drink yesterday?”
TABLE 8
No. of Cups of Milk Taken
| % | |
|---|---|
| 1 cup or glass | 32.5 |
| 2 cup or glass | 30.1 |
| 3 cup or glass | 12.4 |
| 4 cup or glass | 4.3 |
| 4-6 cup or glass | 0.9 |
| More than 6 | 0.5 |
| None | 15.3 |
| N.A. | 3.9 |
| Sample | 1141 |
One-third of the sample only have one cup of milk a day, and nearly one-seventh drink no milk. It should be realised that this table refers only to the drinking of milk proper, not milk beverages like cocoa, etc., which are made mainly from milk.
The information on this point taken from the mothers sample is not quite comparable, as in their case milk could not be dealt with separately from milk beverages, and the question was asked in a different form. From this we obtained information as to how many children in the different age groups drank milk or a milk beverage once, twice or more times a day.
TABLE 9
No. of Times Milk or Milk Beverage Was Taken
| 1 | 2 or more | Total | Sample | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | ||
| Under 5 | 34.3 | 60.2 | 94.5 | 467 |
| 6-12 | 45.0 | 36.3 | 81.3 | 444 |
| 13 - 16 | 45.0 | 10.8 | 55.8 | 111 |
Young children get the most milk - there is rather a low percentage of the 13-16 group taking a milk beverage twice or more times.
Sunday Meals
Interviews with mothers were evenly distributed throughout the days of the week, and it is therefore possible to compare the intake of food items on weekdays and Sundays. (This comparison is not possible with the school-children sample, as there was a higher number of interviews taken on certain days of the week).
TABLE 10
Kind of Food Taken by Children analysed by Day of Week
As was shown to be the case with the grown-ups (p.8), children, too, get more to eat on Sundays than on week-days, especially of meat, vegetables, custard, cooked puddings, fruit, bacon and eggs. The only items of which they have less are milk (most probably because there is no school milk available) and fish.
Nutrients (This section refers only to the mothers sample).
No attempt was made at an estimate of the calorie intake of the children, as their needs vary so much with age.
The table below gives our estimate of the intake of animal proteins, minerals and Vitamin C. It is based on the method described on page 9.
Food Items by Mealtime and Occupation
TABLE 12
The next tables give the food items taken by the different occupations at different mealtimes
Breakfast
TABLE 13
Food Items by Mealtime and Occupation
Mid-morning
TABLE 14
Food Items by Mealtime and Occupation
Midday
TABLE 15
Food Items by Mealtime and Occupation
Mid-afternoon
TABLE 16
Food Items by Mealtime and Occupation
Evening
TABLE 17
Food Items by Mealtime and Occupation
Late Evening
Type of Meal by Meal Time and Occupation
In the next tables the classification of the food intake into meal types is used in order to give a summary picture of what types of meals are eaten by each occupation at the main meal times. The following classification is used.
Meal Type E. This is a fairly well balanced meal consisting of a hot or cold protein dish.
and (two or more vegetables or and (soup or
(one vegetable and bread and spread (pudding, fruit or cake, etc.
Exception. In a very few cases a breakfast consisting of cereal, bacon and egg and bread and spread was eaten. This was classed as Meal Type E.
Meal Type F . May sometimes consist of -
a hot or cold protein dish, or two or more vegetables, or it may be an A meal which lacks one vegetable. But it does not necessarily contain either vegetables or animal protein. If it does not contain animal protein, it must contain an appreciable quantity of vegetable protein. It can easily have as high a calorie content as Meal Type E.
Meal Type G. Is similar to F, but contains a smaller number of substantial food items, and is less likely to contain appreciable quantities of vegetables.
Meal Type H. Contains no main animal protein dish except possibly milk or milk beverage. It may or may not contain vegetables. It never contains more than two food items.
Meal Type I. Is similar to H, but never contains more than one food item.
In all occupational groups meal I is the main breakfast meal, the next most frequent type is meal G, but relatively many more workers in heavy industry have meal I and not meal G than in light industry. Few people have meal E. Meal F is more or less taken by the same percentage in all occupations, though the average percentage is slightly higher for light industry.
Women generally take a lighter breakfast than men.
The midday meal is for all occupations the meal where the highest percentage of meal E is taken, the exceptions are miners and agricultural workers, the former take more packed meals and the latter more of meal F. The low percentage of people taking meal E at midday in these two occupations is not accounted for by meal E being taken at other meal times.
Women are better fed at midday than the men on the whole. The clerical women as well as the clerical men have the highest number who eat E midday meals. Transport and utility workers in both sexes have a low percentage of people who eat this type of meal.
For the evening meal, the most common are the first four meal types, and from these, meal F and meal G are equally and most often taken.
TABLE 18
Type of Meal by Meal Time and Occupation
Breakfast
TABLE 19
Type of Meal by Meal Time and Occupation Midday Meal
TABLE 20
Type of Meal by Meal Time and Occupation
Evening Meal
SECTION II
THE FOOD SITUATION SEEN FROM THE INDIVIDUAL POINT OF VIEW
The Problem Under Investigation: -
To find out what are people’s reactions to the food situation insofar as it concerns them personally, and what factors determine their attitude.
The relevant questions asked of informants were:-
What do you think about wartime food?
Do you think the food you are getting at the moment enough to keep you fit?
Modifications of Yes and reasons for No.
What do you consider the most important foods for your health?
Summary of Results
The number of people who do not think that they get enough food to keep them fit ranges from 41.7% of heavy workers to 22% of housewives.
More women then men feel satisfied, though as could be shown in Section I, they eat less then men - whether they feel satisfied because they need less or because their standard is lower cannot be decided here.
People who sleep little feel more dissatisfied than people who sleep eight hours or more.
Those who feel dissatisfied with what they get eat less of all food items, with the exception of bread, fish and chips, then the more contented ones.
People’s opinion as to what are the most health-giving foods is another factor influencing their feeling of well-being - those who consider vegetables to be of primary importance feel more often fit than people who say meat is most important.
Informants who felt dissatisfied with the general food policy were mostly inclined to attribute their poor health to malnutrition, saying that there was not enough of the most important foods, by-which they meant meat, in particular.
Men consider meat to be the most essential food; women also think it important, but attribute greater value to vegetables, milk and fruit. Mothers consider milk and eggs as essentials in the diet of their children, but do not seem to think vegetables, potatoes or cheese are very valuable.
TABLE 21
Do you Consider the Food You Are Getting At the Moment Enough To Keep You Fit?
Well over half of the Informants feel that they eat enough to keep them fit.
A much greater percentage of men than women do not think they get enough food. Among women, hourswives feel more satisfied then working women. Mothers feel the same about their children as they do about themselves.
The following tables show how opinion on whether food is enough to keep one fit is dependent on a number of factors:-
TABLE 22
Do You Think the Food Is Enough to Keep You Fit? By Total Time Asleep
Those workers who are up longer hours are more dissatisfied with their food. Housewives show the same tendency, only to a far lesser degree.
TABLE 23
Do You Think the Food Is Enough to Keep You Fit? By Total Time Asleep (Housewives)
| Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Up to 8 hours | 76.3 | 72.9 |
| 6 - 8 hours | 22.5 | 24.6 |
| Less then 6 hours | 1.4 | 2.5 |
| People answering | 1429 | 393 |
Influence of type of meal taken on the opinion that food available keeps one fit.
The next table gives a breakdown of type of meals taken by whether it is considered that the food obtained keeps one fit or not.
The same tendency as expressed in the above tables can also be seen if the “type of meal” taken is broken down by “do you think the food keeps you fit?”
TABLE 24
Light Industry
TABLE 25
Heavy Industry
| Food keeps one fit once twice or more | Food does not keep one fit once twice or more | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| Meal E | 45.1 | 5.1 | 31.5 | 1.4 |
| Meal F | 44.1 | 10.9 | ||
| Packed meal | 33.1 | 14.5 | 41.6 | 7.6 |
| People answering | 1100 | 787 | ||
Those who take Meal E feel more satisfied, especially if they have it twice a day, than those who take more of Meal F or packed meals.
TABLE 26
Influence of what people consider to be the most important foods for health on whether they think the food is enough to keep them fit. *
Of those who consider meat, bacon or ham the most important foods, the majority are dissatisfied; the same is true of people who mention eggs, fat in some form or other, sugar or jam. On the other hand, a high percentage of those who consider vegetables and milk very important express their satisfaction. Housewives show somewhat the same tendency as the workers in light industry, only less marked.
Influence of people’s general attitude to the work of the Ministry of Food on whether they think the food is enough to keep them fit .
Question: What do you think about war time food?
The kind of answers given in this connection are best illustrated by some quotations. (For technical reasons, this question is only worked out for heavy industry and housewives).
Bus Driver , total in family 6. “Food not up to standard and not enough of it. Had digestive trouble, which I did’nt have before. Potatoes not up to standard. Fish not so fresh.”
Piecer (spinning room), total in family 2. “Shops closed when I leave work, so can’t get food. Some weeks can’t grumble, others can’t get anything. Hard work, on feet all day; we’re fit for nothing when we get home - we need some decent food.”
Shop Assistant , total in family 3. “I don’t like the bread - the rest isn’t too bad. I used to have a hot meal at lunch-time, but found it was too much for me - it gave me indigestion - so now I just have a light lunch, and I feel much better for it.”
Foreman , total in family 4. “Not quite enough food, though I feel fit, and some people get more than they are entitled to.”
Clearer Winder , total in family 3. “Butter isn’t enough - rations aren’t enough for bringing packed meals - difficult to make rations spin out - can’t make puddings now. It’s very hard - can’t really grumble, but could do with more. Points not enough to get cereals for morning.”
Clerk , total in family 1. “Not enough variety - have not kept so well this winter. Portions are small in some restaurants. I’d like to congratulate Lord Woolton on what he has done. I take my hat off to him...”
The answers expressing the general attitude towards the food situation could be divided into five groups:-
-
(1) Consider the food situation excellent.
-
(2) Think it is all right, and can easily put up with it.
-
(3) Feel that sacrifices have to be made, and am willing to do so.
-
(4) Have special complaints.
-
(5) Think that the food situation is very disappointing.
These answers related to “Do you think the food is enough to keep you fit” give the following table:-
TABLE 27
A considerable percentage of those who find the general food situation “very bad” and those who think it “could be better managed” also feel that they cannot keep fit on what they get. However, the table and the above quotations both show that these two factors, satisfaction with the general food situation, and opinion on whether one can keep fit on the food available, are so entangled that it is not possible to decide which influenced which.
People can disapprove of the work of the Ministry of Food and still think that they have enough to keep them fit, and vice versa.
TABLE 28
Reasons given as a cause for the inadequacy of food
The meat ration is considered to be insufficient, and especially so by the heavy workers, who also complain about the shortage of eggs and fats more than the workers in light industry. Large numbers in both groups complain about not having sufficient tea or sugar. Women miss fruit more then men do, but consider meat less important. They feel the shortage of fat more acutely than anybody. The working woman suffers shortage of food through shopping difficulties. Mothers think that their children suffer most from the scarcity of fruit, sugar and eggs.
What do you consider the most important foods for your health
This question was originally asked for the purpose of seeing to what extent the Ministry of Food’s advertising on this question had been successful. The results, however, are interesting taken in connection with the question dealt with above.
The outstanding fact when interviewing on this question was that people did not understand it, and the investigator usually had to repeat it and explain what was meant. Even then, the answers were not forthcoming. The interviewers formed the impression that people were not very much concerned with what was good for them; they tended to mention food items of their traditional diet which they missed most, rather than those which they considered important for their health.
What do you consider the most important foods for health analysed by Is the Food enough to keep you fit.
TABLE 29
People who feel that they have not enough to keep them fit definitely eat less of most food items than those who feel that they have enough. In particular, they have less milk, potatoes, cooked puddings, soups, etc. The only items of which the dissatisfied have more or the same amount are bread, fish, and chips. These tendencies are exactly the same for workers in heavy and in light industry, and also among housewives and working women, as is shown in the next table.
TABLE 30
TABLE 31
What do you consider the most important food?
Meat is very definitely the most important food by men. Women, especially housewives, think vegetables are more nutritious, though they too consider meat is very important; they are also more aware than men of the food value of milk. A relatively low number consider potatoes to be of primary importance.
Mothers consider milk, butter and eggs to be very important for their children, and attach far less value to meat and cheese. Vegetables and potatoes, too, seem to them of less significance in the diet of their children than in their own.
It is difficult to summarise the effect of total propaganda put out by the Ministry of Food on this question, and since many different channels have been used, we do not attempt it.
Peoples’ judgement on whether the food they get keeps them fit or not is related to what foods they consider important for their health.
APPENDIX I
TOTAL TIME ASLEEP
The amount of energy food needed for the individual is dependent on the amount of energy used. One factor determining the output of energy is the amount of sleep the individual gets. It was therefore considered important to know what amount of sleep the individuals in this inquiry had, and every person interviewed was asked for information on this point.
TABLE 32
Total Time Asleep
| MEN | WOMEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Industry | Light Industry | Light Industry | Housewives | |
| % | % | % | % | |
| 9 Hours or more | 13.5 | 19.1 | 37.9 | 44.7 |
| 8 hours | 24.7 | 32.4 | 32.9 | 31.2 |
| 7 hours | 34.8 | 30.5 | 20.6 | 18.3 |
| 6 hours and less | 27.0 | 18.0 | 8.6 | 6.2 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Sample + | 1942 | 2424 | 1668 | 1912 |
Women sleep considerably longer than men, and housewives more than working women nearly half of them sleep 9 hours or more.
Nearly a quarter of the men sleep six hours or less, and only about one-sixth have nine or more hours sleep.
APPENDIX II
THE NUMBER OF DAYS LOST THROUGH ILLNESS
People in the industrial sample were asked how many working days they had lost through illness during the previous two months, and the housewives were asked how many days they did not feel well (whether they stayed in bed or not). The original purpose of the question was to correlate food habits with the number of days feeling unwell. In analysing the results, no such correlation could be found, which might have been due to the necessary crudity of our material.
The results of this question seemed interesting enough to be presented separately in this appendix.
TABLE 33
Number of days lost during the last 2 months
| MALE | FEMALE | Children | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Industry | Light Industry | Light Industry | Housewives | ||
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| 1-2 days | 5.0 | 4.8 | 10.6 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| 3-7 days | 5.7 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 4.9 | 5.1 |
| Over a week | 6.3 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 9.9 | 7.1 |
| No days | 83.0 | 83.0 | 75.4 | 82.1 | 84.3 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Sample + | 1966 | 2462 | 1677 | 1929 | 1052 |
There are no occupational differences among the men, but there is a slightly higher percentage away for one or two days among the working women than among their male colleagues.
SECTION III
WHERE MEALS ARE EATEN
This section attempted to answer two main questions:-
(1) What proportion of people get the different meals in their homes, and how many in other institutions such as cafes, canteens and British Restaurants.
(2) What is the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with existing arrangements in canteens and British Restaurants.
The questions asked were:
Where did you take your meals yesterday?
If you eat at a British Restaurant or at a canteen, are you satisfied with the existing arrangements?
If no, why not?
If meals are not eaten at a canteen or British Restaurant, have you a canteen at your works or a British Restaurant nearby?
If yes, why don’t you take your meals there?
For housewives, the question on canteens was omitted.
For interviews for schoolchildren, the questions asked were:-
Are meals provided at your child’s school?
Does your child take meals there regularly?
If your child eats there and you are not satisfied, or your child does not eat there at all, why not?
Summary of Results
It is not possible to give a total picture of where people in the sample take their meals. The reasons influencing the decision where to take one’s meal are dependent on too many environmental factors, e.g. whether a canteen or British Restaurant is available, the nature of the work, shift system, which differ from occupation to occupation. One thing stands out clearly from the results - out of the three main meals (breakfast, dinner and evening meals), only the midday meal is to any extent provided by any other institution than the home. The variations among the occupations are great, ranging from 16.7% of the transport and utility workers who take their midday meals outside their home to 55.3% of the dockers who do so.
The proportion taking their evening meal out varies from 10.6% of the dockers to none of the leather and textile. The number is very much dependent on whether an evening shift is worked. The same is true of the number taking breakfast outside the home; in most occupations there are not more than about 1% who do so, the highest number being among the transport workers (4.1%).
Out of the subsidiary meals (mid-morning, mid-afternoon and late evenings), the late evening meal is in practically every case taken at home.
Occupational differences are again considerable. Whereas 63% of distributive workers get their mid-morning meal from outside sources, only about 28% of shipyard workers do so, and practically the same position obtains with mid-afternoon meals.
Working women take their meals away from home slightly more often than men. This trend persists throughout all the comparable occupations, though in no single occupational group are differences between men and women statistically significant.
Only a very small percentage of housewives take meals outside their home. 2.6% do so at mid-day, but the percentage for the other meals is negligible.
Out of those schoolchildren who had meals provided, for them at school, 29.5% took them.
An analysis of where meals were taken outside the home shows that canteens provided the majority of meals, and less than a quarter were taken at cafes. Here, too, occupational differences exist, e.g. 46.7% of the dockers take their mid-day meal at a canteen, and 7.3% in a cafe. Of the distributive workers, 19% had theirs in a cafe, and 15.2% in a canteen.
British Restaurants cater for a very small number of people. The highest percentage in any group taking their mid-day meal there was found in the Chemical and Light Engineering group (4.9%). In every other occupation, not even 1% used them.
Whether or not a canteen, British Restaurant or cafe is used depends not only on geographical factors (that is to say, the existence of a canteen at work, or a cafe or British Restaurant nearby), but also on the size of accommodation available, the type of food served, the quality of the food, and a number of psychological factors personal to the individual. Unfortunately, our sample was not large enough to allow for a breakdown in each occupation by the type of feeding accommodation available, and it would certainly be necessary to extend the survey in this direction if it were found that such information was necessary.
So far as the individual attitudes to canteens and British Restaurants (cafes were omitted) could be analysed without direct knowledge of the background to which they referred, it was found:-
There is a great demand among workpeople for British Restaurants, which is expressed by workmen and managers. The food is generally thought to be good, the service pleasant and efficient. The only complaint heard was that the portions are too small.
0.9% of the housewives in the sample had been to a British Restaurant the day before the interview. This percentage goes up to 4.3%, however, if expressed as a proportion of those living within walking distance or a 1 1/2d bus ride from a Restaurant.
30% of this latter group, when asked why they did not go there, could not think of an answer, about 20% said they preferred home cooking, 14% admitted that they had never thought about it, 18% did not think they could leave their children at home. Other reasons are not very significant statistically.
Schoolchildren: The main reason given by parents why their children do not take school meals, although they are provided, was that they lived near the school and that they preferred to have the children home at mid-day. Actual criticism of the quality of school meals is negligible.
There is still a demand for canteens, especially those where proper meals are served. In many cases, only cakes, sandwiches, tea, etc. can be obtained. Another wish expressed is that canteens should be open at different times in order to cater for workers on different shifts.
A high percentage (39.6%) of those who use canteens or could use them complain about the quantity or quality of the food.
Where Meals Are Taken
Meals in Cafes, British Restaurants, Canteens
The first table shows how many people frequent cafes, British Restaurants and canteens at different meal times, together with a description of the individual evaluations of the existing facilities in British Restaurants and canteens.
TABLE 34
Cafes
Meals Eaten At A Cafe by Mealtime and Occupation
More midday meals than any other kind are taken in cafes. Clerical Distributive workers use them most, because they are most accessible to them, and also because of having a “clean” job, and their working clothes being in good enough condition to enable them to frequent cafes, even if they are not in the immediate neighbourhood. Naturally, miners cannot use cafes, as they have no access to them during working hours. Cafes are also frequented for mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals. The table shows certain occupational differences, e.g. as between Dockers and Shipyard workers, which we cannot explain from our present material. This difference might be due to a pure accident of environment (i.e., good cafes near the places where we interviewed dockers), though it is not uninteresting that two managers of ports told us that in their experience dockers prefer to leave working premises for their meals much more frequently than shipyard workers - they could not offer an explanation for this fact, however.
TABLE 35
British Restaurant
Midday Meal Eaten at a British Restaurant by Occupation
The percentage of people who go to the British Restaurants is small, but to judge from the crowds at rush hours, and the fact that our interviewers were so often told in factories by workers and managers alike “We could do with a British Restaurant here”, it is evident that this small figure is entirely due to the small number of British Restaurants in existence.
Housewives and workers in heavy industry who had a British Restaurant nearby (i.e. within walking distance, or a short bus ride away) were asked “If you eat at a British Restaurant and are not satisfied or if you do not eat there at all, why not?”
The results of this question are presented in the following table.
TABLE 36
It is quite clear from these figures that not many criticisms are raised against British Restaurants and the food they serve. There is one point which should be made here. This question was answered by people who go to British Restaurants, and by those who do not go, too. It is possible that if we could make a separate analysis of the answers of those who do go there (which would be of little value, because the sample is too small), we might find that the complaint “not enough to eat” would be numerically more frequent. Here is a point where future investigation might prove fruitful.
TABLE 37
School Meals
Are Meals Provided At Your Child’s School ?
| No. | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 349 | 47.5 |
| No | 334 | 45.8 |
| Don’t Know | 49 | 6.7 |
| Sample | 732 | 100.0 |
About half the children in the sample had no school meals provided.
TABLE 38
Dees Your Child Eat There Regularly ?
| No. | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 103 | 29.5 |
| No. | 244 | 70.0 |
| N.A. | 2 | 0.5 |
| Sample | 349 | 100.0 |
Not quite a third of the children make use of the opportunity provided for them.
The mothers of children for whom school meals were provided were then asked “If your child eats at a school and you are not satisfied, or if your child does not eat there, why not?”
TABLE 39
Here, as with British Restaurants, it becomes clear that there are very few complaints against the meals as such. A considerable number of mothers could not answer the question, which means that they have never even thought of letting their children take school meals, and an equally high proportion preferred to have their child come home for different reasons.
Canteen
The number of people in each occupation taking different types of meals at a canteen is shown in the following table. In reading this table it must not be forgotten that the figures given are not nationally representative but provide only information on the habits of the people in the sample.
TABLE 40
Meals Eaten at a Canteen by Mealtime and Occupation
Midday, mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals are the types provided by canteens to any considerable extent. To give an explanation of the occupational difference is not possible within the frame of this investigation. Certain explanations might be found if the reader cares to read through the qualitative analysis of the information given by the interviewers, who tried to visit wherever they could, the canteens of the factories in which they were carrying out interviews. (Page37).
Criticism of Canteens
All informants who had a canteen at their work (whether hot meals were served or not) were asked “If you eat at a canteen and are not satisfied, or if you do not eat there at all, why not?”.
A few quotations will give a clearer picture of the way in which informants answered the question:-
“There is something in getting away from work for a time.”
“It only takes five minutes to get home - must cook for the children - wife likes to see me.”
“Never used to it - do not like the crowd.”
“Mother in habit of giving her ‘pieces’ - Brings pieces for midday meal, because only has fish or toast - Always did. It’s sometimes quicker.”
“Do not like to work after hot dinner, because it makes me dozy, so prefer sandwiches.”
“Do not like the stuff they cook - prefer home meals, wife makes stew for us, it is easier - Food is not palatable to me.”.
“Nothing nourishing to be had - Do not sell much, only cakes.”
“There is very little provided because people do not patronise it enough - Do not know where to go for a meal round here.”
“Can only buy few chips or a pie around here - chips are not very good for you and pies not palatable.”
“Only sandwich for mid-morning.”
“Canteen itself all right, but definite shortages - no hot meals after 2 o’clock. - Never know where we will be at midday break.”
“Too crowded, wastes time - prefer my own, handier than lining up in a queue. Do not like the way they are served up - too much rush. If too late you lose the best.”
“Too small and dirty. Canteen in former garage, no rest there.”
“Costs too much for a working man. It costs less to bring the food.”
“Small sandwich 4d to buy, and get so hungry would want half a dozen.”
The following table shows the frequency with which these reasons [Text Missing]
TABLE 41
Complaints about the quality or quantity of the food served amount to 39.6% of all the reasons given why canteens are not used, which seems to be a fairly high percentage. The complaint that the canteen is too crowded correlates with the admission of a number of canteen managers that they have insufficient accommodation to feed all the workers in their place.
In the following pages a description of the canteens available to the different occupational groups is given. It is a qualitative analysis of the information given by the interviewers, who tried to visit wherever they could, the canteens of the factories in which they were carrying out interviews.
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION ON CANTEENS
Textile (Making up)
Nine factories were visited, two in Manchester, two in Leeds, and five in the East End of London. Four of these employed approximately 15-400 workers, remaining four between 50 and 150. The four larger firms have canteens, serving midday lunches, morning and afternoon teas and light refreshments; and in one case breakfasts for fire-watchers. The prices of the midday meal range from 9d. for men, 8d. for women to 1/2d. Of the five smaller firms, one has no canteen at all, and the girls make tea for themselves in their workroom. Two have small mess-rooms that serve tea, and where food brought from home can be cooked or heated up. A fourth has a small canteen providing tea, cakes and bread-and-butter, with cooked beans and chips twice a week. The fifth has an extremely badly run canteen that the workers do not like, and will not use; the interviewer reports that there is a strong wish for a British Restaurant in this district. (Manchester).
Atmosphere . On the general atmosphere of the larger canteens, comments are as follows:-
Everything about the canteen is drab, but the cooking is good.
The kitchen and canteen were very clean and tidy.... there were vases of flowers. The room was pleasant and airy.
Clean and tidy, but the light and ventilation is not very good.
Rather dull and dingy - no separate kitchens - the kitchen section is on the over-small side - a bit messy. The supervisor seems vague and inefficient.
The smaller canteens are described as follows:-
There are tables and chairs where the employees can sit.
Accommodation is provided for those who wish to sit and have their meals there.
A general conflict over the canteen question was going on.
The canteen is in the basement - dingy, dirty, cheerless, and badly lighted.
Accommodation
“Difficulties are very slight”.
Canteen small - lunch in 3 relays. Factory employs 350, 150-160 lunch in the canteen, seating accommodation 50.
Factory employs 300 people, 100 lunch in canteen, lunch in 3 relays. The canteen is small.
In general, it seems that the larger firms are better catered for than the smaller, but that none are equipped for serving meals daily to the whole staff. One manager says “It was all right before the war, when the workers were able to get good meals at home, but now the food at home is so meagre that they really need more at work.”
Management
Supervisor able to get fair allocation of almost everything.
The manageress appeared very efficient.
The supervisor is really only the cook. She seems vague and inefficient, not at all suitable.
There is a woman in charge of the canteen who will cook for them at midday.
There is a woman employed to look after the canteen, make tea etc.
Manager inclined to blame the woman running the canteen - she once paid 8/- for salmon, which workers refused to buy; and lost money on 30-40 cakes unsold because of “brown flour”.
Though not stated, it seems from the evidence that these canteens are all pre-war, and that little or nothing has been changed in order to meet war-time needs.
Textile (Manufacture)
Five factories - 83, 95, 96 and 103. 103 is in Coventry, the rest are in Manchester.
Has no canteen, but tea can be had at 1/2d. a cup.
Has a small kitchen, where a woman will brew tea or cook food brought from home.
Only sells snacks to take into the mills to eat there, but will be enlarged after the war.
A large, clean, bare canteen, of average standard - dinners 11d. to workers, 1/2d. to staff. Not to be improved until after the war.
Atmosphere
“Altogether rather grubby”.
Building Victorian, but light and clean. The manageress grumbled about the bare wooden trestle tables. Those workers who used the canteen seemed reasonably satisfied - only no factory worker ever seems to expect much of a canteen.
Accommodation
Apparently accommodation is fairly adequate, but no further improvements until after the war.
“Arrangements quite inadequate” - but being enlarged.
Management
One woman who will brew tea.
Run by the firm, under the management of the Labour Office, who seem to take a real interest in it, and there is a works committee which makes representations. The manageress, a cheerful, pleasant Irishwoman, does her best to meet all suggestions, but many were impossible under the present food regulations.
Arrangements in all the above cases appear to be pre-war.
Light Engineering
24 factories. 18 have canteens, serving full dinners and other refreshments. One is shortly opening a new canteen, one trying to obtain permit. One has arrangement by which meals are sent in from the local British Restaurant. One serves soup and light refreshments only. Two small firms have no canteen - 12 with less than 50 employees, 102 with 140 employees. In the former instance, none is felt to be needed, because there are good local restaurants.
Atmosphere
Pleasant in 9 canteens.
Moderately pleasant in 5.
Not good in “monotonous but adequate” food, dingy surroundings.
“bad management - complaints”.
Accommodation
Inadequate accommodation is mentioned in the following cases -
- Queues.
- Queues.
- Queues.
- Queues - overcrowding.
- “Canteen now too small”.
- “Canteen opened in 1927, but now too small”.
Increased demand for canteen accommodation has been, or is being met, in the following cases -
- (New factory)
- Canteens being built
- Canteen opened 7 weeks ago
- “New canteen opened today”
- Canteen rebuilt and extended
- Canteen opened last year, gradually becoming popular.
Management
Late manager inefficient, new manager (ex-hotel chef), improving conditions.
Manageress trying to popularise soups, broths, and raw salad and salad sandwiches, “obviously gave a great deal of thought and imagination to trying to make their sandwiches both nourishing and appetising.”
Manageress previously a demonstrator for electric cooker. She had a good knowledge of food-values, etc.
The catering is by an outside firm of caterers.
“The manageress is fed up with present arrangements - the kitchen and canteen are overcrowded”.
“Signed protest about canteen managements bad cooking, bad service.”
35 assistants on day shift and night shift.
“I was not impressed by the canteen manageress or the details the works manager gave me about the canteen.”
New welfare supervisor appointed three weeks ago.
Management has been taken over by one of the carpenters; a woman employed for cooking, washing up, etc. Interesting to see the extreme satisfaction of the men with their new canteen. Manager a fresh ex-chef-catering done by outside firm - “firm are rather touchy about canteen arrangements - not keen on being inspected.
The general impression gained from the accounts of these factories is that a progressive attitude exists, and steps are being taken to improve canteen facilities. A number of canteens have been opened or enlarged since the war, and on the whole, this movement is backed by both the management and the workers. Many of the factories are of a modern type, employing over 200 workers. A number of reports mention that ENSA concerts, M.O.I. films, etc., are provided in the lunch-hour. In several cases there has been agitation for better arrangements, both by workers and managements, and in some cases, improvements are planned, or have already been made.
Building. Of the nine building-sites visited, five have canteens, four have none.
Canteen in wooden shack - poor food.
Canteen for all meals - lunch l/4d., breakfast 7 1/2d.
Meals for day 3/-, Dinner 1/id.
Excellent canteen, lunch 9d. - 1/-.
Poor canteen - 2 course dinner 1/-.
Canteen run by catering firm - too expensive.
Canteen not so good as British Restaurant.
Atmosphere
Wooden shack, trestle tables, discontent.
Whitewashed brick building - clean, but unattractive. Men dissatisfied.
New, excellent canteen.
Camp huts and canteen brick building, whitewashed walls, corrugated iron roof, concrete floor. Cold in winter, but clean.
“Rather like a county club, and really excellent”.
New, but cold cement floor.
Accommodation. There is no mention of inadequate accommodation in any of these canteens; as would be expected, as they are temporary buildings put up on the spot, according to the needs of the moment.
Management. In most, or all, cases, catering is done by outside firms. This seems to result in a lack of co-operation. The men feel that prices charged are too dear, and complain.
“The catering was done by Messrs. Carters. The men did not seem enthusiastic about their canteen.”
“Meccano Canteen is run by Barkers, and all my interviewers complained at the cooking and the food, and said it was better when Meccano ran it.”
One of the sites run by Mecca cafes - the menu is good, but the prices too high for the men.
The supervisor has little control over the actual catering, which is done by some official away from Banbury, so there seems lack of co-operation. The canteen is not controlled by the employees, but by a catering firm, Messrs. Barker & Co., Reading. The men are discontented with the amount of food they get, and the price charged for the midday meal is 1/4d. Cooking equipment up-to-date, service and ready; the men are inclined to grouse at the difference between their meals and the British Restaurants.
The general impression gained is that there is a lack of co-operation between the catering firms and the workers; a feeling on the part of the workers - rightly or wrongly - that they are being exploited. Prices are, in fact, higher than the average factory canteens, or the British Restaurants.
The smaller sites have no canteens, and interviewers were told that men prefer to work on large sites for this reason (l06).
Mobile canteens have been discussed, but as the dinner-hour in the building trade is always twelve, and a mobile canteen can only be at one place at a time, this has been dropped.
Distribution
Of the sixteen distributive stores visited, thirteen had canteens. The remaining two, a hardware store and a laundry, had none.
Accommodation . The accommodation appears to be adequate in all cases, except 24. “The number of dinners served every day is limited by the cooking facilities. The number of days per week depends on supplies of food available. Cook keeps a list, and employees take turns to have dinners. Arrangements are the same as before the war.”
36 deduct charge for meals from weekly salary, and insist that the women members of the staff use the canteen. In other cases, this is optional. Of a staff of 25 about 14 use the canteen.
In general, the accommodation appears to have been estimated before the war, and no increase of staff has taken place since.
There are adverse comments on the management and organisation of any of these canteens, which seem to have been in running order for some time.
Distribution . Hotel - Restaurant - Entertainment
Only three catering establishments were visited, all in Edinburgh.
Complaints were made that the meat, fish, salad, and the best food generally, was served to customers.
There is no special feature to be noticed.
Transport
Nine Transport depots were visited. Of these, three had no canteen, but one was to have a canteen opened shortly, well equipped.
Tea and dry rock-cakes only, no main meal.
Corner Counter in recreation room, serving snacks, and some dinners cooked on gas-stove behind the counter.
Snack bar and canteen. Breakfasts served to traffic-staff, midday dinner to shed-staff.
Excellent canteen, opened two weeks ago. 135 lunches served daily, 10d. Main meal fairly good, sweets and tea. Meals are brought from local British Restaurant.
Accommodation . In only one case (40) is the canteen accommodation regarded as adequate.
At present, workers have to take packed meals and brew their own tea - under wartime conditions they find this a great hardship. (Canteen to be opened shortly - up to date and well equipped).
Women’s room is dark and dirty and bare. There is no canteen, women workers are discouraged from going to the buffet, and have only 20 minutes’ break in which to go out for a meal. Women go home too tired to eat after 8 hour shifts. The need for a canteen is greatly felt.
The men have no canteen facilities except Transport Cafes, many of which have closed since the war, or close earlier, or favour regular local customers, at the expense of drivers on night-work, whose need is real.
British Restaurants are not designed to meet the needs of drivers, whose hours for meals are irregular, who must find parking accommodation, and who cannot afford time to queue.
This canteen was opened rather less than a year before the war. It is used by garage as well as transport workers and the general staff.
Turnover has increased from £70 to £400 per month since the war, and the kitchen is now too small, although it has been enlarged.
50 dinners a day are served. No dissatisfaction stated.
Agitation for canteen accommodation - only “tea and dry rock-cakes” available. Snacks - large room, little seating accommodation. Workers may have only one meal - breakfast or lunch - not both, owing to lack of accommodation. Shifts are inconvenient for meal-times. The need for more cooked meals served to suit those on different shifts is very great indeed.
700 men work at depot, but only 65 dinners a day can be supplied, because of lack of cooking equipment.
Management
Open 8 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. - would like to keep open later, but cannot get the staff from the Ministry of Labour. They are still negotiating about this. Complaints in general are of bad accommodation rather than of bad management.
The case of Transport workers is certainly a hard one. One driver interviewed put the case strongly “Road transport is not considered at all, and it is essential”.
The main difficulty appears to be night work and inconvenient shifts; but even so, accommodation is not adequate for workers who are on the premises. In Manchester, the new canteen is well patronised, and much appreciated, and obviously similar ventures would succeed elsewhere. Two mobile canteens have also been provided in Manchester, and these too are found to be useful on the road.
Clerical . Three canteens for clerical workers only were visited.
Lunches 9d. or over, 3d, rebate for juniors.
Lunch 1/- (3 courses), tea.
Canteen for clerical staff only - 2/9d. a week for five-2 course lunches.
General Surroundings
Large pannelled dirty hall, clean cloths, upholstered chairs, waitresses.
Better than Lyons.
Tables to seat four. Cloths, bentwood chairs, Well arranged.
The surroundings are intimate and pleasant.
Accommodation
30 lunches daily, enlargement planned.
600 lunches daily, two sittings.
The impression gained from these two instances is good, so far as it goes. The price of lunches compares favourable with that paid in Factory & Building site canteens, and by the staff in distributive trades.
Public Utilities
Public utilities depots were visited. Analysis of amenities as follows:-
No canteen, not sufficient time off to go outside for meals. Staff not allowed to eat and drink on the premises - in fact, no care for the welfare of the workers at all.
Good, modern messroom, no canteen.
Just a hut, stove and gas ring. British Restaurant near.
No canteen, but good mess room, where tea can be made.
Canteens exist in the following cases:-
Lunch about 1/-. Breakfasts and teas also served.
A private venture that should, it is felt, be run by the corporation.
Regular customers for lunch l/3d. Home Guard breakfasts and teas also served.
Dinner 8d., also tea and sandwiches served.
British Restaurants supplies lunches in containers.
Gas Office workers, 1,000 lunches a week served 9d. each also cups of tea. Canteen in construction.
General Conditions
Canteen, and also a lounge for woman workers, where tea is served.
Canteen is small and fairly clean.
Service, flowers and table cloths. Large airy room, green and white crockery. Canteen, large and light, washable tables and long leather seats.
Dingy and plain. “It was obvious from the extreme filth of the workers that more comfortable conditions would have been out of place.”
Management
The canteen is run as a private venture by a woman who finds the job harassing and feels that it should be run by the Corporation. She prepares the meals and does everything herself, as if for her own family. A manageress runs the canteen. It is not popular - Women feel that they are not treated as well as the men. - “We are not all treated alike”. Canteen makes its own soup, tea and coffee. Everything else is sent in from the local British Restaurant. 66 dinners a day served. Staff of three.
Accommodation
Only 70 lunches can be served, and there are 700 workers employed.
Regular customers only are catered for, and must bring their own crockery and cutlery.
No other comments on accommodation difficulties.
41 has recently been opened, 37 is a new venture, and 35 (Liverpool G.P.O.) is soon to open a canteen. One gains the impression that not enough has yet been done to provide amenities for Public Utilities workers.
Food
Ten food factories were visited. All have good canteens, serving hot meals, with the exception of 112, where there is only a small canteen serving tea and snacks to the workers, and cooked meals to office staff only.
In general there has been no increase of staff in food factories since the war, and the canteen accommodation is adequate.
Management
All these canteens are under the firm’s own management. They have all been in existence for some time, and there is no criticism of the management.
The general impression gained is that no category of workers is better catered for than those in this group.
Chemical
Of the five chemical factories visited, two had no canteens:-
General conditions
Splendidly managed, food varied and well cooked.
Concrete floor, undistempered walls. Dreary, drab, arid building, and lack of all facilities.
Pleasant cloakroom for women, dirty and unsatisfactory room for men.
No canteen.
Plain, but clean counters made as attractive as possible. ENSA concerts and variety for workers. Excellent food, salads and fruit served regularly. Excellent staff.
Accommodation
1500 lunches served daily, kitchen staff 116. Lunches, breakfasts and teas also served.
800 lunches and 100 night meals served daily.
Between 4 and 5,000 hot lunches served daily, also other meals.
All these canteens are pre-war. 98 was opened in 1919. In the smaller clerical firms conditions seem to be bad and old-fashioned.
113 is a huge organisation, and appears to run an excellent canteen and welfare accommodation; and 101 is also splendidly managed.
Iron and Steel
20 factories were visited, 7 had no canteen, 5 out of these 7 had more than 1,000 workers employed.
4 factories had canteens where sandwiches and drinks only could be had. In one case the staff had a canteen where hot meals were served, though the workers could only buy sandwiches.
3 factories had only a room where meals brought from home could be warmed.
7 factories had a conteen where hot dinners could be purchased.
Atmosphere
All canteens which served proper dinners were clean and the surroundings cheerful, the food good.
Here is an example of the menu:-
These kind of meals were served twice a week on an average, the other days made up dishes were provided.
The canteens which served sandwiches only were on the whole dirty; the food not very appetising, and the bread often stale.
Only one works had a night canteen, though repeatedly the interviewers were told, that the night shift workers would welcome a hot meal at night. The difficulty of the management seems to be that they cannot get night canteen workers.
Not all workers would welcome a canteen, as a certain number do not want a hot dinner.
“Many men declared that they had no desire for a hot meal at midday, if they have a hot meal and go back to work they feel heavy and headachy. It should be remembered, that because of the nature of the work, they often can only snatch 20 or 30 minutes break”.
Agriculture
In none of the areas visited were any “Pie Schemes” sponsored by the Ministry of Food in existence, though in two places the W.V.S. was in the process of considering such a scheme. Repeatedly our interviewer was told that a mobile canteen was urgently needed,
Mining
Of the 17 Pits visited all had canteens, with one exception snacks were sold, such as sandwiches, cakes, buns, milk and tea; none of them served hot meals.
The rooms in which the canteens are housed are usually cramped and small.
All the canteens were very well frequented by the miners. The most frequent complaints from canteen managers were that they could not get enough of the food stuff they needed. They want more meat, sugar, fresh milk and margarine.
One canteen manager worked it out that the amount of margarine allowed for one worker a day provides spread for two slices of bread, whereas his men are used to taking eight slices with them.
In another canteen, for every forty teacakes taken, one sugar coupon had to be given up. The interviewers report that the teacakes are very small, because a great shortage of sugar existed.
Only the Durham miners seem not to have taken the extra cheese ration. They state they would prefer jam, if meat could not be had.
Generally a demand for chewing gum was voiced.
Shipyard and Docks
Eighteen docks were visited: Fourteen had canteens where hot meals were served.
One had a voluntary mobile canteen.
One a small shed where only tea was served.
One had a canteen ten minutes away.
The majority of the fourteen canteens which served hot meals are run by private firms. The food is generally good, but serious complaints are made by the workers about the price of the meal. The dinner cost 1/7d. consisting of meat, vegetables and potatoes, pudding and tea. Prices of 1/3d. are usual. A general demand was voiced that the prices should be brought down to the level of British Restaurants, and the running of the canteens should be taken out of the hands of private enterprise.
All the canteens suffered from lack of accommodation - e.g. One yard employing 1,000 had seating accommodation for fifty. Even here meals in three relays did not solve the problem.
Another complaint from the men is that they do not get a big breakfast consising of bacon among other things, and they feel entitled to a heavy meal in the morning as they start work so early.
No night canteen exists, and night shift workers complain bitterly about this lack.
The greatest difficulty with the management is that they never know how many People they will have to feed the next day, which makes catering nearly impossible.
In the three yards in which no proper canteen was available a clear demand for one was stated.
Difficulties on the part of the management of canteens
(1) Obtaining permits to purchase food . This is least difficult when the numbers using the canteen can be accurately estimated. Old established canteens in general have met with less difficulty than new; and those where numbers have not increased since the war seem to run more smoothly than those feeling the pressure of new conditions. The staff of John Lewis, for example, must use the canteen for lunch, and has done so since before the war. In such a case as this there is no special difficulty in estimating registrants.
Typical difficulties are as follows:-
(Clothing). Only five workers came regularly for meals - Managers could not, with less than 25, apply for meat etc., and make good meals. (This presumably, is a vicious circle- with better meals the canteen would have been patronised – a remark of the workers in this firm was “We could do with a B.R. here”; a proof that canteen accommodation was desired.)
94. “Ration is based on pre-war consumption, and they are allowed to buy cakes, bread, butter, tea, sugar, potatoes, and fruit, but not meat or fish or eggs. This ration was all right before the war, when the work were able to get good meals at home, but now the food at home is so meagre that they really need more at work.”
They are entitled to a bacon permit, but so far have not had it, so cannot give night workers a good breakfast.
The carpenter managing the canteen said they had been treated very well by the Food Office. He had to struggle with the returns cheerfully, but feeling that he would do something wrong sooner or later.
“The number of days per week on which meals are served depends on supplies of food obtainable for the canteen. Points are a help”.
The Supervisor has just discovered that the canteen is eligible for a priority grant of sweets. He complained that the Food Office in Reading seemed to like to keep them on a minimum rather than a maximum supply, and did not tell them plainly in print to what priority foods they are entitled. He discovered by studying the newspaper what was the basis on which “points” were granted to catering establishments, and found that he was about 2,000 points per month short. This was rectified by the Food Office.
It will be noticed that in some cases the difficulty lies in the problem of “knowing the ropes” - often a difficult problem for an inexperienced supervisor, new to the work.
On the other hand, many comments show that the food offices have been helpful, Supervisor thinks when she has her points, things will be easier. She has been able to discuss matters with the local food office. No difficulty in supplies - Enfield Food Office very helpful indeed. Bakers - caterers - have no difficulty over supplies.
(2) Obtaining supplies of food . The foods in which a shortage is felt are the following (in order of frequency of mention):- meat, sugar; tea; sandwich fillings; fish; fat; vegetables; salads; butter; cheese; bacon; dried fruit Comments on the recent discontinuation of milk are made in several reports, and the proposed reduction of the fat allowance is also felt to be a serious difficulty.
Fish is difficult to obtain in most districts, and one report mentions that it is not supplied to canteens in the Reading district. Fish fresh vegetables and salads are often prohibitively expensive.
Managers of Shipyard canteens seem to need special catering facilities in order to deal with the fluctuating number of men working in the Yards.
(3) Lack of variety is a common complaint, both on the part of workers and managements; as also is the difficulty of planning meals ahead when supplies are uncertain and goods ordered in advance may not arrive.
(4) Crockery is in some cases difficult to get.
Charged 6d. on cups, to prevent loss.
Plates - “They possess 50 to 120 dinners per day, and cups, they have very few indeed of them - they cannot be procured.
Crockery is very difficult to obtain and there is some feeling that the B.R.’s. get priority.
Will only take on new customers if they provide their own crockery and cutlery.
(5) Another type of difficulty is that of pleasing the workers and of accustoming them to new foods and to the habit of using canteens.
There are on the whole few complaints about the National Bread; that it is sour, that bread gets dry, and that cakes made of national flour were discarded, are objections mentioned. but there are also some favourable comments. Typical remarks are given below.
The men were difficult to please - they asked her to get different things, and when she did, they did not want them.
One manager said “factory workers around Irongate and Bridgetow live on fish and chips”.
The men seem to be closely attached to the old habit of bringing packed lunches with them - these seemed to be of the poorest and least nourishing description”. (This is at an Iron works, where a canteen exists, but is not used extensively. A night canteen had to be closed; because not enough men made use of it).
“Made-up dishes are not popular.
The manageress had tried to introduce soups, and had made excellent vegetable broths, but she could not induce the men and women to buy them. The manageress obviously gave a great deal of thought and imagination to trying to make their sandwiches both nourishing and appetising. She now serves a lot of raw salad sandwiches because she wants the men to eat green stuff. Also she wants to get fat into them, but has to disguise the fat, or the men would not eat it. One sandwich is made by mixing the “Skin” of the bacon with bovril or oxo, etc. The men and women wouldn’t look at plain tinned meat.
There are rarely bones that could be used for soup, and the people round here would not take kindly to soup.
The new canteen manager (an ex-hotel chef) - He despaired of Birmingham’s taste in food. He had been all round the world, and catering in Birmingham was the worst in the world. He said the workers at the factory only wanted fish and chips, cream-cakes, bread and butter, and brown gravy over everything. They had protested when he had made white sauce with boiled beef and carrots. They would not eat salads, did not like savouries - “Birmingham people do not understand food”.
(Manager and welfare supervisor both emphasised that they drew from a particularly low-grade of worker, because the work was largely unskilled.)
Clydeside . Very few workers eat green vegetables for midday or evening meals.
Dislike of soups, savouries and salads is frequently mentioned, but in other cases, a demand for salads is hard to meet, because of high prices. Women workers and clerical workers are mentioned as willing to eat more fresh salads.
Trying to get more cold meats and salads served, as these were popular with the women.
Summary of Qualitative Material on Canteens
Certain categories of workers seem outstandingly in need of better canteen conditions. Notably:-
Transport workers; The difficulty of irregular hours makes catering for these exceptionally difficult.
Police: The need for canteens has arisen since the war, and little has so far been done to meet the new need. The police feel that the new defence services have received preferential treatment.
Agricultural workers are in great need of mobile canteens.
Shipyards and Dockers need canteen accommodation extended.
The best organised canteens are to be found in food factories and large department stores who handle food, and are familiar with the market.
WHERE MEALS ARE TAKEN - by Occupation
The following tables show where the different occupations take their meals, leaving out all people who did not take any meals at particular meal-time.
TABLE 42
Miners - Male
TABLE 43
Shipyard - Male
TABLE 44
Building - Male
TABLE 45
Clerical - Male
TABLE 46
Clerical - Female
TABLE 47
Distributive - Male
TABLE 48
Distributive - Female
TABLE 49
Chemical & Light Engineering - Male
TABLE 50
Chemical & Light Engineering - Female
TABLE 51
Leather & Textile - Male
TABLE 52
Leather & Textile - Female
TABLE 53
Public Utility & Transport - Male
Where did you have your Meal yesterday? - By Occupation
TABLE 54
Agriculture - Male
| Breakfast | Midmorning | Midday | Midafternoon | Evening | Late Evening | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Home, Lodging | 95.4 | 8.6 | 62.1 | 26.2 | 81.3 | 52.7 |
| Cafe | - | 0.2 | - | - | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| British Restaurant | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - |
| Canteen + | - | - | - | 0.4 | 0.2 | - |
| Meal brought from home * | 3.0 | 39.6 | 27.6 | 18.4 | 1.2 | - |
| Sample | 499 | 499 | 499 | 499 | 499 | 499 |
* Canteen also includes meals which are brought from the canteen to the people in the workshop. It is possible that people bring part of their meal from home and supplement it in the canteen; in such cases, the meals are counted twice, under canteen meal and under meal brought from home.
Meals brought from home are distinguished from meals eaten at home because they present a different problem. The next Section, IV, deals in detail with the question.
TABLE 55
Dockers - Male
TABLE 56
Iron & Steel - Male
TABLE 57
Public Utility and Transport - Female
SECTION IV
PACKED MEALS
The problems under investigation were:-
-
(1) How many people bring packed meals from home to eat at their place of work at different meal times.
-
(2) What are the reasons for bringing packed meals, rather than buying at a canteen, British Restaurant or cafe.
-
(3) What do these packed meals consist of.
Summary of Results .
Between 60% and 13% of the men in the different occupations bring their midday meal and between 8% and 14% of the women do so.
Mid-morning, midday and mid-afternoon meals are the main meals for which packed food is brought from home. The proportion of those who do so varies in each occupation group, and ranges from 13.1% clerical workers to 59.9% building workers. It is more customary to bring food for the mid-morning than for the mid-afternoon meal - the latter is not taken by so many people. The number of people who bring these meals varies from 2.1% of the dockers who bring a mid-afternoon meal to 52.5% of the light Engineering women workers who bring a mid-morning meal.
Women seem to bring somewhat fewer packed meals for mid-day, but more for the mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks, than men. It must, however, be kept in mind that women eat more mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals.
The main reason given for preferring to bring packed meals from home rather than buy them out is that it is a habit and that it is preferable to have a solid meal at night. The extent to which this “habit” is due to the fact that there are still not enough canteens and British Restaurants to satisfy the demand cannot be judged from our material. It is certainly indicative of the 2 possible answers to this question that well over a third of those who bring packed meals say they do so either because there is not canteen at their place of work, or else because the canteen is not open during their shift, or it is too small to seat everyone.
The contents of the packed meal depend on the time of day at which it is taken. The vast majority of midday meals brought by both male and female workers consist of bread and spread plus either meat, cheese, fish or egg, etc. Nearly half of the mid-morning meals consist of only bread and spread (mainly margarine or butter). About 40% of the men and 20% of the women also have some protein food in their sandwiches at mid-morning.
Mid-afternoon packed meals are characterised by the great number of cakes, pastry or biscuits taken. 35.7% of the men and 54.1% of the women bring these.
TABLE 59
1 or 2 packed meals brought from home
| 1 packed meal | 2 packed meals | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Male | 36.0 | 17.0 |
| Female | 24.0 | 20.5 |
More men than women bring one packed meal, but relatively more women bring two packed meals. This is explained by the tendency of women to bring fewer midday but more mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals than men.
TABLE 60
Meals Brought From Home - by Mealtime & Occupation
Mid-day, mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals are the main ones brought from home, but a certain percentage who do evening or early morning shifts bring an evening meal or breakfast. In our sample, especially in the case of shipyard workers, we interviewed a number of people on evening shifts who were consequently obliged to bring meals. The highest proportion of people bringing meals from home was to be found among building workers; this is probably due to the fact that we interviewed at sites which were far away from any canteens or cafes serving proper meals. The lowest proportion was among clerical male workers - this, as already explained on page 36 is because other feeding facilities are easily available for them.
TABLE 61
Constituents of Packed Meals by Mealtime - Female Light Industry
TABLE 62
Constituents of Packed Meals by Mealtime - Male Light & Heavy Industry
Sandwiches with or without protein food form the main ingredients of packed meals, both for men and women. Protein sandwiches constitute the bulk of midday packed meals.
Cake, pastries and biscuits are mainly brought for the mid-afternoon snacks. Relatively little fruit, vegetable or milk beverages, are taken.
Women differ from men in that they are inclined to bring more cakes, pastry, etc. and fewer protein sandwiches than men.
Reason for bringing packed meals .
All informants who brought packed meals with them were asked why they preferred this way of feeding to using a cafe, canteen or British Restaurant.
The reasons given in their numerical significance are as follows:-
TABLE 63
Why Do You Bring Packed Meals Rather than Buy Your Meals ?
This table is interesting insofar as it shows that 45.9% of the reasons given why canteens are not used refer to the shortage of canteen accommodation. This percentage is most probably higher in reality, as many of those who say they bring packed meals habit or because they prefer them might very well give up this habit if there were adequate canteen accommodation.
There is a relatively high percentage saying that they do not use canteens because they are too expensive. Only a further investigation could show how far this statement is dependent on the high prices in the canteens and how far it is due to the family budget not allowing of individuals buying their meals out.
Sex differences in the reason given for bringing packed meals seem to be caused by the fact that there were fewer canteen facilities available for the women in the sample than for the men.
APPENDIX III
THE SAMPLE
TABLE 64
Adults
Sex Distribution
| MALE | FEMALE | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Industry | Light Industry | Total | Light Industry | Housewives | Total | ||
| No. | No. | No. | % | No. | No. | No. | % |
| 1989 | 2462 | 4451 | 55.4 | 1677 | 1948 | 3625 | 44.6 |
TABLE 65
Age Distribution
It is very difficult to get reliable figures about the age composition of the working population of England at the moment. It seems the females under 20 are over-represented in the light industry sample, though it will have to be taken into account that the under-20s are mainly aged 18 to 20, and as the girls are called up a year later than the boys, our figure might well be representative. It is certain that our figure of 1.6% for the over-65s is too small, as Mr. Bevin recently stated that over 784,000 old--age pensioners are employed in industry. It is very likely that these old people do not do jobs in the workroom itself, but are mainly occupied as cleaners and odd-job men, etc., and might therefore not have been present when the investigators asked for volunteers in workshops.
A different age classification was used in order to make this sample comparable with other material which is in our possession. The age composition of housewives is representative.
TABLE 67
Children
| Children I (Housewife Sample) | Children II (School Sample | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | |
| Under 5 | 467 | 44.3 | - | - |
| 6-12 | 444 | 42.3 | 618 | 54.1 |
| 13 and over | 111 | 10.5 | 524 | 45.8 |
| N.A. | 30 | 2.9 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Total | 1052 | 100.0 | 1143 | 100.0 |
The children sample I (Housewifes) is purposive. In order to obtain a large enough sample of the under-5s, interviewers were instructed always to interview the mother of the child under five if there was one in the family, whether or not there were also older children.
In the school sample it was impossible to interview children under five, and of the 6 - 12 age group, only 2.2% were aged between 6 and 7, 15.6% aged 8 to 9, and 36.3% between 10 and 12. The reason for this unrepresentative distribution is that the questionnaire was only given out to a form with children under ten years of age if the teacher felt confident that the children could fill it up.
TABLE 68
Occupation Distribution
Heavy Industry
| No. | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Docker | 385 | 19.4 |
| Shipyard | 315 | 15.8 |
| Miner | 395 | 19.9 |
| Iron & Steel | 394 | 19.8 |
| Agriculture | 499 | 25.1 |
| N.A. | 1 | - |
| Sample | 1988 | 100.0 |
For Heavy Industry, the numbers to be included in each occupational group were specified by the Ministry of Food. This was a purposive sample, and not representative of the country as a whole.
TABLE 69
Light Industry
A comparison of the sample figures with the national figures shows that the Public Utility and Transport group is overweighted, otherwise the sample distribution is fairly representative. By special request, a sample of policemen was included.
The sex distribution in the different occupation groups is representative of the national ratio, with the exception of Public Utility & Transport and the Distributive, where the women are over-represented. It must, however, be kept in mind that in these two industries there has been a considerable influx of women during the last months.
TABLE 70
Housewives - Distribution by Husband’s Occupation
The distribution of the fathers’ occupations in the children’s sample I (Housewives) corresponds to that of the husbands’ occupations in the housewife sample. The school children were not asked for the father’s occupation.
Table 71
Family Size Distribution
| No. in Family | No. | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 2 | 2026 | 25.1 |
| 3 – 4 | 3753 | 46.6 |
| 5 – 6 | 1445 | 18.0 |
| Over 6 | 476 | 5.9 |
| N.A. | 376 | 4.4 |
| Total | 8076 | 100.0 |
The family size distribution is representative of the whole population.
TABLE 73
Regional Distribution
Interviews for the different regions took place in and around the following towns:-
It was not attempted to choose a nationally representative sample, but to obtain a sufficient number of interviews in each, district to make comparisons between the different districts possible
TABLE 74
Occupation by Region - Heavy Industry
TABLE 75
Occupation by Region - Light Industry (Male)
TABLE 76
Occupation by Region - Light Industry (Female)
Types of Accommodation
The next table shows the percentage of industrial workers living in “digs” or hostels. Whether this distribution is representative or not is impossible to judge, as no national figures are available.
TABLE 77
| MEN | WOMEN | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Light Industry | Heavy Industry | Light Industry | |
| % | % | % | |
| Home | 92.7 | 88.2 | 93.3 |
| Digs | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Hostels | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 |
| N.A. | 0.1 | 4.8 | 0.1 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Sample | 2463 | 1989 | 1677 |
TABLE 78
Days of the week for which interviews were obtained
The instructions were to interview always for the previous day. The interviewers rest periods were Saturday afternoons and Sundays, and so, with the exception of a few investigators who interviewed on Sunday, in order to see canteen arrangements on Sunday, no interviews for Saturday are available. The percentage of industrial interviews for Sunday is slightly smaller, as sometimes the management of a factory preferred not to have any interviews done on a Monday morning.
The day of the interview in schools could not be chosen by the investigator, but had to be left to the head of the school.