Dear Chelle, what a lovely Article which has brought back so many memories for my mother who has read it. During the second world war stuff with vitamin C in was scarce due to the U-Boats sinking shipping in the Atlantic.
So the British used rose hips for vitamin C, with a quite ingenious way of collecting the common dog rose hips ( Rosa canina), by using schoolchildren. You see chocolate was almost impossible to get, but the parents would give a very small piece of their chocolate allowance, which was about 1 oz a month per person if available to the schools.
The child who collected the most rose hips per week was given a tiny piece of chocolate, as a bonus and incentive.
The rose hips were made into a syrup and given to pregnant mothers. Rationing did not end in Britain till 1954, so my mothers first taste of chocolate was in 1948, when she had collected the most hips.
My mother was at school right through the war (1939-1945), but never won the coveted prize till 1948.
Even now in the UK any pregnant woman can get Rose Hip Syrup free from the Pharmacy, it is that good for women that are expecting a child. Strange but true.
Love the Article.
Regards from a very cold England.
Neil.
p.s Rosa canina is native all over Europe and grows everywhere. It is quite wild.
