ABSTRACT
The second chapter first focuses on the socioeconomic group studied – the middle classes – and the particularity of their pre-war diet in comparison with the working-class one. It discusses the emergence, development and evolution of the middle classes as well as the various criteria that define them, namely income, occupation, standards of living, but also attitudes, including those regarding food practices and tastes. Then, based on contemporary surveys of food purchases and consumption, the eating habits of the upper, middle and lower-middle classes are presented and compared to the eating habits of the working class, and then compared to wartime rationing. This comparative analysis is essential to comprehend the differences in eating habits between social classes prior to and during the war in order to understand the consequences of these differences for the wartime experience of food of these various social groups.
