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Diary extracts and correspondence, thematically arranged, with extensive footnotes identifying newspaper coverage and parliamentary speeches, dealing with Woolton’s policies and actions on rationing against the background of the development of the Battle of the Atlantic. It gives insights into the challenge of maintaining supplies given the toll on shipping, the negotiations with key groups such as farmers, the challenge of maintaining staff morale at Colwyn Bay (including the discreet visits there made by Woolton for this purpose), revealing also the key roles played by men like Sir Henry French and John Redcliffe Maud. Entries and speeches reveal Woolton’s frustration with party politics and the Civil Service in other departments, as well as with key figures like Churchill and Robert Hudson Spear.

Attempts to reconstruct basic aspects of the standard of living in late eighteenth century China, focusing primarily on the Yangzi Delta (China’s richest region) but also briefly considering other areas, and arguing that for most of the population it was probably broadly comparable to Western Europe at the same time. Food supply is evaluated in terms of average availability of calories and protection from fluctuations; protein intake is also discussed, though more speculatively. Income distribution and evidence concerning consumption of textiles, sugar, tea, and so on are also considered. Since the estimates in this study in many cases are higher than what was found in early twentieth-century surveys, the chapter also explains why it is plausible to think that the standard of living may have declined between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This chapter discusses the role of citizens and civil society organizations in a social economy and their capabilities to influence food supply chains. Using detailed case studies to analyse the exploitation of immigrant workers in agriculture as well as the response of civil society organizations, the chapter outlines potential contributions by Solidarity Purchasing Groups to the development of the Foundational Economy. In order to do so, it reviews the role of Alternative Food Networks such as Farmer’s Markets and Solidarity Purchase Groups in local food supplies; it also argues that Foundational Economy thinking proposes a trans-scalar approach from the local to the national territory for food supply chains. Finally, it underlines how this approach could be useful for the development of policies to support international urban food programs.

Diary extracts and correspondence, thematically arranged, with extensive footnotes identifying newspaper coverage of Woolton’s policies and actions on rationing, as the Battle of the Atlantic continued, with the added complication of the entry of the USA into the war, given the impact on supply management. The toll on shipping continued to provide a challenge to imports from the Empire. Woolton’s continuing consciousness of the importance of media-related strategies of explain and so gather public support for Ministry policies (including changes in rations) is revealed, and his continuing frustration with party politics, fellow politicians and other departments (including Agriculture) are revealed. The challenges of engaging with Churchill are shown to have continued, while his positive relations with the Royal Family continued.

Diary extracts and correspondence, thematically arranged, with extensive footnotes identifying newspaper coverage and parliamentary speeches, dealing with Woolton’s policies and actions on rationing after being appointed Minister of Food. Thematic headings include management of the Ministry, relations with other Departments of State (and their heads), relations with the public, relations with Churchill, and relations with the Royal Family. Under these headings, Woolton’s ability to engage the public via a carefully developed media strategy (aided by Howard Marshall), his thinking on the importance of his broadcasts and publicity initiatives is revealed. Insights into the challenges of getting rationing accepted as being ‘fair’, the problems of supply and of relations with farmers is revealed. It also shows the development of relations between Woolton and Churchill, as well as the Royal Family.

Diary extracts and correspondence, thematically arranged, with extensive footnotes identifying newspaper coverage of Woolton’s policies and actions on rationing in the last 11 months of his time as Minister of Food. It reveals his consciousness that his work at the Ministry was no longer the challenge it had been, especially during 1941 and 1942, and that he was thinking of returning to his business career rather than carrying on at the Ministry. He continued to be frustrated by party politicking, and while retaining his consciousness of the importance of continuing the management of the media to retain popular support for Ministry policies, his enjoyment of that role is inflected by a weariness over the split-site management dimension. His relations with Churchill and fellow politicians were a factor and his consciousness that the tide of war had turned in the Allies favour is revealed when he voiced a number of criticisms of Churchillian strategy in prioritising the war fronts over evolving strategies for post-war reconstruction, leading up to his reaction to Churchill offering him the post of Minister in the new Ministry of Reconstruction that Churchill had proposed. .

In the fifth chapter, the book examines the story of Detroit on the rise—the ultimate conclusion of most of the disparate narratives surrounding the city. The fascination with Detroit in the twenty-first century is due not to its ruin but to the evidence of Detroit as possible. This chapter looks explicitly at the narrative of the rise of a “new Detroit.” This rise is best seen in media portrayals of as the city’s “hungry” creative class, the billion-dollar investment of Dan Gilbert, and the media frenzy around the opening of a Whole Foods Market in Detroit and the company’s use of that store as a national platform against “racism and elitism.”