Food Supply and Nutrition in the Netherlands during and Immediately after World War II

Abstract

O NE of the most important social problems both from a health and from an economic point of view is the public health. This is readily seen from the fact that impaired health goes hand in hand with an increase in the rate of illness by which the economic production of a nation is reduced, whereas, in the opposite case, good health can enlarge the labor achievements and consequently the economic output. It may be accepted now as a generally known fact that good and sufficient nutrition is one of the most important factors for the maintenance and promotion of public health. Those who may doubt on this point may be referred to the consequences of malnutrition in a large part of the world and of undernutrition in the various countries during the German occupation. Good and sufficient nutrition, however, can be maintained only if the country itself can produce the necessary food or if it is able to supplement its domestic production to the required level and to the desirable composition (Jansen) (i). These facts apply not only under normal conditions but also during a war or occupation of a country. Therefore, a brief history of the nutrition of the Dutch people during the second World War is of interest not only to those who were living in the Netherlands during the German occupation, but also to many others abroad, who have followed our fight against starvation from a great distance. Many people in our densely populated country lost their lives