§ 30. Mrs. Castleasked the Minister of Food whether he will make it possible for the housewife to make more of her own jam this Summer by making available to the domestic consumer a larger allocation of soft fruit and of extra sugar for jam making.
§ Mr. StracheyI hope to be able to provide extra sugar for home made jam on last year's scale. We do not control the distribution of soft fruit; the quantity on sale will depend on the crop.
§ Mrs. CastleIs my right hon. Friend aware that the reason he has so much manufactured jam on his hands at the moment is that housewives do not like it, will not buy it and would prefer to make their own, and will he not give them an extra allocation of sugar this year in order to defend the domestic arts against the encroachment of mass production?
§ Mr. StracheyThat may be my hon. Friend's view on this, but we do give a considerable number of sugar bonuses for this purpose and we would like to increase them if supplies will permit.
§ Mr. Somerville HastingsCan the Minister say how much sugar allocated for jam is actually made into jam?
§ Colonel Gomme-DuncanCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether he really considers it is a fair allocation to give one lb. of sugar in lieu of a two-lb. pot of jam? One cannot make two lb. of jam with one lb. of sugar?
§ Mr. StracheyI can only say to the hon. and gallant Member that if he cannot perform this feat, almost everybody else can.