Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Part of Orders of the Day — Supply. – in the House of Commons at on 11 July 1940.

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Mr. Lloyd George:

I am glad the Parliamentary Secretary understands that need. It will help the farmer enormously if the worry of disposing of his produce is taken off his shoulders. See to it that he can dispose of his produce, especially now that we are getting into a more varied diet. I do not agree in the least that it is unpalatable. It is infinitely more palatable, and it is the diet upon which I was brought up and which has lasted me for 77 years. It was a very varied diet with vegetables and barley. No one seems to eat barley in these days. Barley bread with a mixture of wheat is first-class stuff. A diet of vegetables of every kind with not too much meat is quite sufficient. The Government are not making the most of milk; they are just putting it into tins, but what they can make out of it is something which has not been taught. There is micws mali, which was first-class—I do not suppose the right hon. Gentleman has ever heard of that dish. It is a contrast—something which is hot, and something which is cold—and it appeals to the palate. The peasant discovered that. Let the right hon. Gentleman name anything more attractive or sustaining than a hot potato in cold butter milk. All these things can be made very palatable. Vegetable soups are a meal in themselves, and the Russians, who are a fine, powerful race, have lived on them.

The Government are now coming under the instruction of men who have made a study of the problem of nourishing diets, and it is all to the good that the result of their investigation has been to counsel us to return to simple fare. But it involves more labour, and labour is one of the essential parts of the problem. Most of the work could be done by women. In Denmark, for instance, they keep their young women in the rural areas by giving them something to do, such as preparing palatable dishes for the markets. We too should take it in hand. It would do more for the health of the country than anything the Minister of Health could offer. Nothing would do more to restore the health of the country than to put the diet of the peasant on the tables of Mayfair, and of the workers, who at the present moment are spending their money upon things which, although they appear to be attractive and palatable, are not good for their health. Let us get something of value out of this terrible evil while we are endeavouring to restore the land of the country and regenerate our rural life.