iii

Foreword

Wartime conditions have created a host of new problems on
the Home Front. Many of us have been obliged to give up
our homes and settle in strange surroundings. Parents have
had to send their children out of the cities to places of safety.
In every town there are Civil Defence workers on duty for long
hours at A.R.P. posts.

As a result we have in the country large numbers of people
uprooted from their familiar surroundings and the happiness of
their own homes. These people have made many sacrifices
freely and willingly. Nevertheless the stoutest hearts may lose
courage in a long-continued strain and we have a definite task
before us in keeping up the spirits of our people.

The importance of good food cannot be too strongly
emphasised. To feed our evacuated population and Civil
Defence workers is a problem which we feel can best be solved
by means of canteens and cookhouses.

In this Handbook we have collected some practical suggestions
for the feeding of large numbers in canteens, but may we first
put forward the idea that these should not only be places for
the provision of good food, but in some sense take the place of
home for people away from their own firesides ? It would be a
great achievement if those in charge could create a homely
atmosphere and make the canteens community centres where
people can pass a few happy hours each day, making new
friends and gaining real benefit from this contact with a larger
social world.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity of all is given to those who
are running canteens for children. By preparing good food
and serving it in a happy, cheerful atmosphere they can do
much to protect the health and keep up the spirits of our young
people and to save them from the hardships of war.

Lastly, we would say that in running these canteens women
will have a chance to show their real resourcefulness and
imagination. They will have to adapt existing machinery to
new needs, create new facilities where necessary, and quickly
and efficiently deal with one of the most vital needs of a country
at war—the proper feeding of men, women and children away
from their homes.

41 Tothill Street,
London, S.W.I.
March, 1940.

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