Before 1917, rationing was voluntary, with people being asked to sign a pledge card saying that they would use only a limited amount of bread. A Food Control Committee, chaired by Mr W.E. Best to control distribution of foodstuffs, and a Food production Committee, under Jurat Julius Bishop, which aimed to improve locally sourced food supplies came into being. Growing bulbs and luxury crops was discouraged, while potato growers received a guaranteed price for their crops. The export of cattle was prohibited and maximum prices were fixed for local catches of fish. Sunday fishing was also permitted from October 28th 1916. In 1917, compulsory rationing of meat, sugar and butter came into being, with a more stringent form of rationing being adopted from March 25th 1918.

There was a Guernsey War Relief Fund, to help needy families, and a Communal Kitchen and Schoolchildren's Dinner Fund were also established. The Communal Kitchen, under the direction of the Bailiff's wife, Mrs E. C. Ozanne, supplied hot dinners in town at cost price, while the Schoolchildren's Fund provided hot dinners to schoolchildren all over the island. These were based on the idea that food could be purchased more cheaply in bulk, and there was also a fuel saving by cooking it in large quantities rather than every household making its own meals.

Davis concludes this section by stating that people learned to eat more simply, with "other classes" learning that two meat meals per day are unnecessary, while the workers went without their "Jersey jar", better known as bean jar, previously eaten every Sunday for breakfast.