ABSTRACT
Nutrition education, now common in most European countries, is generally directed towards the problem of obesity. Nutrition education became part of the food policy in many European countries during the economic crisis of the 1930s and the Second World War. The main fear was being cut off from overseas food supplies, as had happened during the First World War. This chapter addresses why and by whom nutrition education was initiated; the uneasy position of nutrition education in times of occupation; and the diminishing access to food and the widespread hunger in the winter of 1944-45. The experimental kitchen was indispensable during the hunger winter of 1944-45 when recipes had to be written for unusual foods such as sugar beets and tulip bulbs. In anticipation of a new, large-scale European conflict the Dutch government took measures for ensuring food security. The commission advised on nutrition surveillance, nutrient composition of food rations and the meals provided by soup kitchens.
