Brown Paper Bags

Our food came grocer-packed in paper bags.
Brown bags! Sans blurb to laud health benefits.
Bags leaving us to choose our serving size.
No list of salt, fats, sugars, additives.
No mention of preservatives or calories.
Nutritionist world rule then future tense
And Wet-Nurse State a war to think about.
We managed to survive.

Our mother saved the dripping from the roast
And bought beef dripping from the butcher’s shop.
No cooking oil on sale. No magarine.
Just butter ration. Saturated fat!
We ingested those triglycerides
On war-time milling white bread, never brown,
Ignorant of high glycaemic index.
Strangely though, we thrived.

And even now, I crave my those-days’ treat.
Roast’s drippings, white bread, lots of salt and pepper…But
Big Brother DISAPPROVES.