Potato Propaganda

'Lest we Forget'

Also during wartime, potatoes and other vegetables were described as excellent sandwich fillings. Raynes Minns writes within his book Bombers & Mash: The Domestic Front 1939-45, (1980) that “[p]otato consumption rose by 15 percent and ministerial advice to caterers concerning nutritional values in wartime diets was clearly set out in MOF pamphlets.” (Minns, 1980 p. 118)

Minns includes examples of ‘potato propaganda’ used within Ministry of Food pamphlets which I have listed below.

“1. Potatoes:

1. An essential energy food full of vitamin C and essential vitamins throughout the year.
2. Serve large helpings if meat amounts are small.
3. Use in pastry, scones and cakes.
4. Use mashed potato flan cases and pie coverings.
5. Use potatoes as the basis of all dishes.
6. Mix with meat rissoles, fish, sandwich spread etc.
7. Serve baked potatoes stuffed with vegetables as snacks.
8. Use grated raw potato in place of half your suet in steamed puddings and suet pastry.
9. Serve potato pancakes and scones for tea, not buns and cakes.

2. Increase the potions of green vegetables and carrots if the supply of protein is small. Serve two vegetables as well as potatoes, the greener the better.  

3. Raw carrots added to steamed puddings and cakes will help to sweeten them.

4. Serve well-flavored mashed potatoes as sandwich fillings.” (Minns, 1980 p. 118)


Minns, R. Bombers & Mash: The Domestic Front 1939-45. London: Virago, 1980.