f Incomes, Class, and Coupons. Black Markets for Food in the Netherlands during the Second World War

The disruption of the global food market during the Second World War prompted many governments to introduce rationing and price controls to ensure that what remained available was distributed fairly among their populations. Those populations did not necessarily agree with the pattern of consumption imposed on them, and throughout the developed world black markets were common. As yet, the effects of black-marketeering on popular nutrition are not well understood. Taking the Netherlands as a case study, this paper aims to elucidate the way in which people with different incomes, backgrounds and interests used the black market.