Some ingenious German food substitutes

Category

Library Item

Item no

32760

Title

Our ill-fed foes: Some Ingenious German Food Substitutes

Description

From the Illustrated London News published 1918, March 23rd, page 353. Drawn by W.B. Robinson. Additional title: How Germany seeks to make good her shortage of food-stuffs: Wild plants and other substances.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1918

Size

39.6 x 26.7cm

Type

Press cutting; Reproduction

Location

Reference Library

Germany turned to its botanists and scientific minds to find alternatives to bolster the Nation's diminishing food supply. Flour for bread making was one of several items that was universally in short supply on both sides of the line. Countless substitutes were used, from the more appetising, like potatoes and beans, to the nearly inedible, like straw, as a means of stretching the remaining supplies of flour. Eventually reedmace was discovered to be a palatable and viable alternative, as reedmace grows readily throughout Germany. The Germans also got inventive with their substitute for coffee; acorns were used as a replacement, though by many accounts the exchange wasn't a desirable one.

Textiles were also difficult to make as before as cotton was troublesome to obtain. As an alternative, the Germans favoured the common nettle to replace cotton and the inside of the bark of the poplar to substitute hemp.

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Related subjects

Events > Wars > Rationing

Events > Wars > War shortages

Events > Wars > Wars

Events > Wars > World wars

Sport and leisure > Activities > Eating and drinking