I tried eating as a vegan in World War Two. This is what happened…

By Anna Boardman, Advocacy & Policy Officer, V for Life

I became vegan in 2018, which, although only 4 years ago, feels like a lifetime. My vegan journey has been supported by the availability of an abundance of delicious and novel plant-based foods, along with significant scientific and nutritional support for the diet. But even looking back to 2018 there were nowhere near as many options for vegan friendly food. Twenty years ago, a vegan diet was incredibly limited – chips and salad!

But go back nearly 80 years, to the 1940s – not only with the lack of knowledge but also contending with rationing – was veganism even possible?

When I visited the Vegetarian Society’s archives with my colleagues at V for Life, I was surprised to learn that not only were vegan pioneers following the diet during the war, but they were writing about it in magazines and creating recipe booklets to help others maintain their veganism throughout rationing.

Intrigued by the possibility of achieving this under such restricted circumstances, I decided to challenge myself to follow a war-time vegan diet using the recipes and advice we found from the 1940s for 5 days – and document the effects.

Day 1:

The first day of my challenge was easy.

For the first day, I chose a simple lunch of Marmite on granary bread, an apple, and a handful of mixed nuts. Marmite was called ’Yeastrel‘ back in the 1940s and was seemingly a staple for vegans, with many mentions of its health benefits. Luckily, I fall on the ‘love’ side of the argument, so this was a perfect lunch for me.

For dinner, I made lentil soup, as per the recipe shown in The Vegetarian Messenger, 1944, p.224. The only ingredients were onion, lentils, stock and water. But, even without the addition of vegetables which I would normally use for a lentil soup, it wasn’t as bland as I had assumed – it tasted very similar to leek and potato soup.

Overall, other than feeling not very full, I was satisfied with the taste of my first two meals.

Day 2:

On the second day, I felt noticeably hungry in the morning. I never usually eat breakfast, but made some toast and Marmite to get me through till lunch.

For day 2, I decided to use pearl barley, which I have never used before but assumed was like quinoa. It’s a cereal grain and was widely produced during the war to fill you up. I used the recipe in the same magazine from 1945 for tomato and barley soup, and I had reasonably high hopes. However, although this looked tasty, it was incredibly bland. After boiling it for 2 hours, the barley was mushy, and the lack of garlic or herbs meant that it just tasted like watered down tinned tomatoes – very uninspiring.

For dinner, I was getting desperate for some flavour, so I decided to make stew and dumplings.

The recipe for stew was found from Norman’s (2007) Eating for Victory, and I added some Marmite to thicken it and deepen the flavour, along with carrots, leeks, onions, mushrooms, stock and tinned tomatoes. The dumplings were made with self-raising flour, vegan margarine, and water. This meal was tasty, but I was very aware that if I really was rationing, I could definitely have eked out more than two meals with those ingredients.

Day 3:

Onto the third day, I had porridge for breakfast using water because nut milk didn’t seem to be available unless you made it. I then prepared myself for eating the remaining barley soup for lunch!

For dinner, I tried the strange recipe for a ‘macaroni hotpot’ I had found in The Vegetarian Messenger (1944).

The recipe was very simple: onions, peas, macaroni, flour, and mint – I wasn’t expecting much. Predictably, this was bland, and I don’t know why the chosen herb was mint because it tasted strange with plain macaroni, but at least it was filling.

Day 4:

Even though I felt full at the end of day 3, I was hungry again by the morning so made some toast and Marmite for breakfast.

I’d assume this was because the meals aren’t very high in fibre (or perhaps fat or protein), which keeps you full for longer.

For lunch, I had pea soup, which contained peas, cabbage, onion, mint and veg stock. This sounded normal to me, until I read the recipe stated to boil for 2 hours and then strain! This meant the vegetables went a strange brown colour, and then once strained, I was left with a clear watery soup with mint... I would not recommend. If I was doing this recipe again, I would just boil for 20 minutes and blend.

For dinner, I was ravenous. I had jacket potatoes and salad, which was stated as a staple in an entry from a vegan in the 1944 Messenger who describes her and her husband’s very simple but ‘peaceful and harmonious way of life’ (see picture below).

I go to bed feeling pretty hungry and fed up but excited to finish the challenge the next day.

Day 5:

On the final day, I woke up with a headache and nausea – I hope it wasn’t down to the diet and was just a winter bug, but it meant I couldn’t complete the challenge, although I’m not sure how much of it I could have stomached anyway!

Final thoughts:

Trying to eat like a World War Two vegan was a fascinating – and sometimes challenging – experience. It was quite humbling following, however briefly, in the footsteps of some early and intrepid vegan pioneers.

There were some real pros. The meals were cheap – handy for eating on a budget in these straitened times (I estimate I spent £13.97 for the 4 days, which would come down with bulk buying if I stuck to the diet). And the experience made me fall back in love with Marmite!

It was challenging, too. Everything felt similar and bland. I was also much hungrier than usual, and had to eat breakfast every morning, which is unusual for me. And I definitely wasn’t getting my five-a-day, so didn’t feel very energised or healthy.

Most of all, I felt both impressed by the wartime vegans, and relieved that we no longer have rationing! I’m grateful to be living when I am, with so many nutritious and tasty vegan ingredients readily available – including the occasional quick-fix (which would have been welcome this week because sometimes I felt like I was spending all my free time cooking). Living as a Second World War vegan was tough – but that only served to make me appreciate how easy it is to be vegan today.