During the 6 years of World War Two the Ministry of Food did its best to drum up enthusiasm for carrots. DoctorCarrot, carrying his bag marked «Vit A» was featured on pages of recipe books and advertising campaigns in the press and on the radio.

Carrots were truly one of the foods that helped win the war. People experienced culinary delights such as curried carrot, carrot jam, carrot puddings and a homemade drink called Carrolade. Most of these «delicacies» were nothing new and items such as cakes, puddings and jam had been enjoyed throughout Europe since the Middle Ages.

Keeping a nation fed on wartime rations took remarkable ingenuity and a very strong stomach.

Carrots also played their part in winning the air battle. Famously, the Government responded to a temporary wartime oversupply of carrots by suggesting, through propaganda, that the RAF's exceptional night-flying and target success, was due to eating high carotene content carrots. The ruse worked: consumption of carrots increased sharply because people thought carrots might help them see in the blackout, thus taking the pressure off other food supplies.

World War Two revived the popularity of the carrot and gave it a rightful place in the kitchen elevated to a new high as a major food and nutritional source.


"This is a food war. Every extra row of vegetables in allotments saves shipping… the battle on the kitchen front cannot be won without help from the kitchen garden.
Isn't an hour in the garden better than an hour in the queue?" (Lord Woolton, Minister of Food, 1941)