Meat

One of the major openings for black marketeers to seize was the rationing of meat during the Second World War. Consumers in America were used to eating beef, hog, and to a lesser extent lamb and veal. However, the military also need these meats for its soldiers. More went to the war effort and less stayed at home because farmers could make more money selling the meat to the government than they could at the market.

The administration made an effort to downplay the situation, even going so far as to publish recipes that would allow citizens to use up more of their allotted meat supply. It wasn't really effective. Those ready to take a chance found their needs met on the black market.

People who were willing to work illegally saw the chance to increase their income. It was impossible to legally purchase a good cut of steak, but on the underground market, it could bring in more money than even selling it to the government. Additionally, consumers would receive meat that would otherwise be impossible for them to obtain legally anyplace, plus they would avoid using ration points, which might still be traded for less appealing cuts. If you overlooked the legality, it was a win-win situation.

They literally referred to the meat vendors on the underground market as "meat leggers" and compared them to gangsters. To frighten the population, propaganda movies were produced in which everyone who consumed meat from the illicit market fell ill. The attempts did not have much luck. People enjoyed eating meat.

In order to demonstrate how simple it was to get black market meat, an investigative journalist who wrote an article on the subject was able to gather a literal ton of it. Finally, in 1946, the President completely removed meat from the list of permitted foods out of concern that continuing to ban it might cause unrest.