Eating Rabbits

When I spoke to a Soroptomist chapter about Hawaii during World War II, I mentioned that growing rabbits was considered "patriotic." By sheer luck I had a copy of a Honolulu Advertiser piece (May 13, 1942) with me. It read:

The University of Hawaii is encouraging people to buy rabbits for food because rabbits don’t require imported feed. A poultry husbandman of University of Hawaii says in one year, two female and one male rabbit will furnish 100 pounds of live rabbits, or 55 pounds of edible rabbit meat. The chicken-like meat is highly nutritious and he points out every pound of rabbit meat produced locally means more space in ships for transporting war supplies.

During the war there were competitions in schools to encourage youngsters to grow rabbits. Recipes for rabbit were published in the newspapers, and more often then not, replaced chicken on the dinner table.

One of the Soroptomists started to laugh, then another, then another said, "I always wondered why I hate rabbit so much. I ate it all the time when I was a kid. I never knew why my mother cooked so much rabbit."

"Yes," another woman agreed. "Rabbits and Spam."

PHOTO: University of Hawaii War Record Depository. (undated)

Women of World War II Hawaii