Creating the Kitchen Patriot: Media Promotion of Food Rationing and Nutrition Campaigns on the American Home Front during World War II

Abstract

This study examines media responses to two important food rationing orders introduced by the Roosevelt administration in the spring of 1943 and subsequent drives for nutrition awareness as part of the nation's war effort. The analysis of news reports, advertising campaigns, trade publications and propaganda strategies shows the media s instrumental role in mobilizing civilian support for the wartime government's food initiatives. Focusing on women as their target audience, news, advertising and propaganda worked in tandem to help condition Americans to changes in food consumption and preparation. The study suggests the political significance of women s pages, an overlooked genre of news where the kitchen patriot emerged as a prominent role model for American women.