17 jf WAR 
Jr ood— and 
IN PEACE 
CONTENTS: 
• LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 
Pages 3 to 12 
• THIS HUNGRY WORLD 
Pages 15 to 39 
9 1944 FOOD PROBLEMS 
Pages 41 to 128 
9 SCHOOL LUNCHES 
Pages 129 to 154 
• OUR DAILY BREAD 
Pages 155 to 185 
• FOOD BEHIND BARS 
Pages 187 to 210 
• APPENDIX 
Panes 211 to 221 
CONSOLIDATED 
REPORT 
OF THE 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT 
LEGISLATIVE 
COMMITTEE ON 
NUTRITION 
1944 
Legislative Document (1944) 
No. 73 IN WAR 
Food 
AND 
IN PEACE 
hi the format of this report, a slight departure from the usual 
pattern has been made. The report is presented in five different 
parts, distinctly separated but all related to the general sub- 
ject. The series, combining to make a consolidated report, were 
edited by A. J. Abrams, research director, assisted by G. A. Yaeger, 
of the research staff, and are published by our Commiftee to 
promote development of a sound nutritional program. 
Thomas C. Desmond 
Chairman, New York State 
•Joint Legislative Committee 
on Nutrition 
CONSOLIDATED 
REPORT 
OF THE 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT 
LEGISLATIVE 
COMMITTEE 
ON 
NUTRITION 
LEGISLATIVE DOCUMENT 
1944 No. 73 NEW YORK STATE JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE 
ON NUTRITION 
State Senator Thomas C. Desmond, Chairman 
Assemblyman Jerome C. Kreinheder, Vice-Chairman 
Senator Edward J. Coughlin, Secretary 
Senator Perry B. Duryea 
Senator Rodney B. Janes 
Assemblywoman Edith C. Cheney 
Assemblyman Benjamin H. Demo 
Assemblyman Charles Bormann 
Staff 
Albert J. Abrams 
Director 
George A. Yaeger 
Charles L. Franke 
Lawrence Conkling 
Earle H. Houghtaling, Jr. 
Helen Ernest 
Dean Shaffner 
Winchester H. Heicher 
2 Foreword 
TO THE GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 
Momentous developments on 
the nutrition front have 
occurred during the two 
years of existence of the New York 
State Joint Legislative Committee 
on Nutrition.1 
Soon after the outbreak of war, 
food “surpluses”’ disappeared; 
shortages became marked. Our 
country embarked on a gigantic 
rationing program. Price ceilings 
on food were imposed, but food 
prices have jumped nevertheless. 
Black marketeering became wide- 
spread and has not yet been curbed. 
Every housewdfe has been called 
upon to alter traditional habits in 
buying and cooking, and their 
response in general is a tribute to 
their patriotism and ingenuity. 
A shortage of grains for live- 
stock feeding in the East created 
serious problems for our farmers. 
War plants have had difficulty in 
getting priorities for factory can- 
teens. Lunch periods for indus- 
trial workers, particularly miners, 
have been cut sharply. The school 
lunch program has had to face 
recurrent crises. And a dozen 
Federal food agencies have not yet 
produced a coordinated national 
food program. 
Despite weaknesses in the food 
field, progress has been made. 
Food production has soared. 
Civilians are eating more than 
they did before the war, and our 
soldiers are the best fed in the 
world. Thanks to newspapers, 
magazines and the radio, our con- 
sumers are obtaining an enormous 
amount of educational material. 
War plants in increasing num- 
bers are taking an interest in the 
nutritional problems of their 
workers. An epoch-making ad- 
vance has been the compulsory 
enrichment of bread with nutrients 
essential to vigor and health. 
Outlook for 1944 
Although drought or unforeseen 
events may arise, the food outlook 
for 1944 seems brighter in some 
respects than it was in 1943. The 
biggest problem during 1944 will 
be milk, for it is unlikely that we 
can attain the unusually high level 
of production set during the past 
two years. 
The 1944 food outlook for civil- 
ians in our country is for more 
potatoes, soya flour, fish, grits, 
wheat, corn and rice; less milk, 
meat, cheese and shortening; a con- 
tinued tight supply of butter, and 
as much poultry, eggs and mar- 
garine as in 1943. A sharp drop 
in the supply of meat is likely this 
spring. We may get 15 per cent 
less food than we wTant but we will 
have all we need, and will have a 
1 The Committee was established by joint resolution of the Senate and Assembly 
in 1942. Its life was extended the following year until March 1, 1944. See 
Appendix A. 
3 USDA photo by Knell 
Milk will be biggest food problem of 1944, with manpower and feed shortages 
chief difficulties 
better chance, if we manage care- 
fully, of getting a more healthful 
diet than we have had in years. 
Post-War Prospects 
There is a division of opinion 
among experts as to post-war food 
prospects. Some believe we shall 
have to change our diet radically 
from emphasis upon meat to 
cereals, if we are to send large 
quantities of food abroad. But even 
this school of thought believes that 
such a change need not impair onr 
nutritional status. 
Others believe that, even if we 
are to undertake to help feed the 
hungry and malnourished of the 
post-war world, we shall not have 
to tighten our belts. They point 
out that we are sending vast quan- 
tities of food abroad today, that in 
the post-war period per capita con- 
sumption of food at home is likely 
to drop with decreased wages, and 
that after a brief transitional 
period, Europe should be able to 
supply three-quarters of her own 
needs. 
RECOMMENDATIONS1 
Despite the fact that we are the 
best fed nation in the world, there 
1 Adoption of recommendations, I, IT, IV, V, VII, VIII and XII was urged in 
“The Nutrition Front,” the first report of our Committee (Leg. Poe. 04, 1943). 
Recommendations III, VI, IX, XT and XIII are new. 
4 is a high prevalence of mild, 
chronic nutritional deficiencies. 
Unknown thousands of our people 
suffer from “hidden hunger,” one- 
third of the draftees found unfit 
for service during 1941 were 
rejected directly or indirectly be- 
cause of nutritional deficiencies. 
Nutritionists point out that indus- 
trial production cannot reach top 
peak with workers who tire easily, 
due to improper diets. 
We recommend: 
I. The State should place its 
nutritional activities on a perma- 
nent basis as soon as practicable. 
We must recognize that nutrition 
is a proper and permanent con- 
cern of government. It lies with 
government, assisted by private 
agencies and supported by enlight- 
ened public opinion, to take the 
lead in bringing proper food with- 
in reach of all of our people. 
New York State already has 
numerous agencies concerned with 
nutrition, and the State Emer- 
gency Food Commission has during 
the past year rendered excellent 
service to our people, through its 
nutritional activities, directed by 
Dr. L. A. Maynard, Dean, School 
of Nutrition, Cornell University. 
But not until we place our State’s 
nutritional activities on a perma- 
nent basis shall we have a long- 
range, coordinated nutritional 
policy and program. 
II. The State should create a 
central coordinating nutritional 
agency in the State Health Depart- 
ment. 
This agency should be headed by 
a policy-making council of repre- 
sentatives of State departments 
concerned with nutrition, and of 
representatives of the College of 
Home Economies, the School of 
Nutrition, College of Agriculture 
and the Extension Service at 
Cornell University. Creation of 
such a council will tend to elimi- 
nate the conflicts inevitable in co- 
ordinating the work of a large num- 
ber of separate governmental 
bureaus. The council should be 
appointed by the Governor, in 
order that it may have the prestige 
and influence necessary to co- 
ordinate the activities of the various 
departments. The council should 
appoint an executive secretary who 
shall be administrative director of 
the agency. For the sake of effi- 
ciency and economy, staff func- 
tions such as clerical work, pur- 
chasing, etc., should be handled 
through the State Health Depart- 
ment. 
The need for such an agency, first 
recommended in “The Nutrition 
Front,” has become increasingly 
apparent. 
III. The State should adopt a 
system of dietary surveys so that 
information needed for an intelli- 
gent food program will be avail- 
able. 
It is amazing but nonetheless 
true that despite the sweeping- 
changes being made in national 
food policies from time to time, no 
one knows precisely the dietary 
status of people in the various 
economic levels of our country. For 
example, accurate data on the 
impact of price changes and ration- 
ing upon the low-income groups is 
lacking. 
Absence of basic information 
makes it impossible to utilize our 
5 food supply to the best advantage. 
England has solved this problem by 
inaugurating a system of dietary 
surveys. 
We in New York State should 
conduct dietary surveys which will 
give us the information essential 
for administering intelligent nutri- 
tional policies. This data will prove 
of utmost importance not only to 
the State but also to the Nation. 
IV. The State should encourage 
research in the field of nutrition. 
There are more than 600 research 
laboratories in the food industry. 
These laboratories have done out- 
standing work in improving the 
quality of our food. But the work 
of these private research agencies 
must be supplemented by publicly- 
supported research projects, such 
as those conducted at the State 
College of Agriculture, the College 
of Home Economics and the School 
of Nutrition at Cornell University. 
At these institutions, men and 
Women are devoting their lives 
to the improvement of the health 
of our people. This research de- 
serves the full support of our 
State. 
V. There should be close rela- 
tionship between our State’s nutri- 
tion and food production policies. 
Food and nutrition policy must 
be considered as complementary 
parts of a single problem. New 
York State is a leading producer 
of protective foods, such as eggs, 
milk, vegetables, and fruit. We 
have fish resources untapped. We 
could release transportation facili- 
ties and aid producers if we em- 
phasized in our nutrition program 
Nutritional research deserves full sup- 
port of the State 
the healthful products of our own 
State, rather than urge use of sub- 
stitutes from far-flung parts of our 
country. 
VI. The State should lend its 
influence in support of plans to 
keep prices of essential foods 
within reach of the lower-income 
groups. 
Food costs during the past few 
years have soared. This is pri- 
marily a national problem. But the 
State can at least lend its influence 
and prestige in support of intelli- 
gent plans to keep food costs within 
reach of low-income groups. Price 
ceilings, subsidies, and the food 
stamp plan have all been tried 
from time to time to enable low- 
income families to obtain the food 
they need. Whatever the means 
employed, food prices must be kept 
within reach of the millions who 
earn less than $30 a week. No 
effective nutrition policy is possible 
6 USDA photo by Knell 
School milk and lunch programs should be placed on a permanent basis 
unless our wage-earners in the 
lower economic levels can afford to 
buy the food essential for health. 
VII. The State should recognize 
the special needs of children. 
We note with satisfaction that 
the State Education Department 
during the past year has been 
given the authority to direct the 
school lunch program, and that the 
1943 Legislature removed the ban 
which prohibited school districts 
from subsidizing their cafeterias. 
Unfortunately, the recurrent 
emergencies which confront the 
school milk and lunch program 
threaten their continuance and 
expansion. The Federal Govern- 
ment should place these programs 
on a permanent basis. And our 
State should make every effort to 
see to it that the school milk and 
lunch program is continued and 
expanded. 
7 VIII. The State should place 
greater emphasis upon nutrition 
in industry. 
Nutritionists estimate that pro- 
duction of war materials could be 
stepped up 10 per cent if workers 
ate proper foods. An aggressive 
nutritional campaign should be 
conducted in industrial plants, 
encouraging establishment of fac- 
tory canteens, between-meal snacks 
of nutritious foods, and use of 
concentrated nutritional supple- 
ments, such as brewer’s yeast, to 
the on-the-job diets of workers. 
IX. Penalties against black raar- 
keteering should be increased. 
Black marketeering in food is 
widespread. At present, under the 
State War Council Act, violations 
of price ceiling and rationing regu- 
lations are merely infractions pun- 
ishable by fines up to $25 and five 
days in jail or both. This small 
penalty is tantamount to a license 
fee, for what black marketeer would 
not willingly pay $25 periodically 
to make hundreds or thousands of 
dollars illicitly? 
The War Council Act should be 
amended to make violations of price 
ceiling and rationing regulations 
misdemeanors, punishable by a 
graduated system of stiff fines and 
jail sentences, so that repeated 
violations will be discouraged. 
X. Food waste should be curbed. 
The amount of food we Ameri- 
cans waste each year is beyond 
belief. Tons and tons needlessly 
spoiled, needlessly wasted, are 
thrown into garbage pails. It is 
impossible to legislate this waste 
out of existence, but it is possible 
that large scale waste in restaur- 
ants, hotels and institutions might 
be diminished if the State War 
Council were empowered to issue 
and enforce food conservation rules 
and regulations. 
XI. Nutritional standards in 
State institutions should be im- 
proved. 
The purchase, preparation and 
serving of food in all State institu- 
tions should be under the guidance 
of qualified nutritionists or die- 
ticians. 
The Correction Department, for 
example, should employ a nutri- 
tionist to set up basic daily rations 
in terms of essential nutrients, to 
advise prison cooks in the methods 
of preventing vitamin losses and in 
reducing food wastage. 
The food inspectors of the 
Bureau of Food Control in the 
State Department of Agriculture 
and Markets should be authorized 
to make periodic inspections of 
State institutions. The Bureau of 
Public Sendee Training of the 
State Education Department 
should plan in service training 
courses for cooks, and other food 
handlers in State institutions. 
XII. The State should encour- 
age experiments in prevention of 
dental decay through use of 
fluorine in the water supply. 
Last year, our Committee called 
attention to the unusually low 
prevalence of dental decay in 
communities where drinking water 
has a fluorine content of about 
one part per million gallons 
of water. We urged the State 
Health Department to conduct 
studies of the subject. We are 
happy to report that the Health 
8 USD A photo by Forsythe 
Surveys are needed to determine impact of price changes and rationing on our diets 
Department has been keenly in- 
terested in fluorine developments, 
and is prepared now to conduct 
an experiment designed to provide 
definitive data on the desirability 
of having communities add fluorine 
to their water supplies. (See note 
at end of Letter of Transmittal!) 
Fluorine offers a new hope for 
curbing the ravages that modern 
diet is making on the teeth of our 
people. We urge that funds be 
made available to the State Health 
Department to finance a demon- 
stration of the effectiveness of 
fluorine in test communities of our 
State. 
XIII. In view of the new de- 
velopments which directly affect 
food production, transportation, 
marketing and consumption, it is 
essential that the Joint Legislative 
Committee on Nutrition be permit- 
ted to continue its work. 
We recommend that the life of 
the Committee he extended to 
9 March 1, 1945, in order (a) to 
study means of conserving valuable 
nutrients now thrown down the 
drain as waste products, (b) to con- 
tinue its studies of industrial nutri- 
tion and the nutritional activities 
of the State, (c) to direct a wide- 
scale dietary survey, and (d) to 
determine the impact of commit- 
ments now being made with for- 
eign governments upon our own 
nutritional problems in the post- 
war era. 
These 13 recommendations are 
our answer to the question: What 
role should the State play in rela- 
tionship to nutrition? 
And though they seem to deal 
mainly with abstractions such as 
nutritional principles, organiza- 
tion and administration, actually 
they are basically concerned with 
such realities as the stenographer 
snatching a quick lunch at a soda 
fountain; the welder digging into 
his lunch-box for his noon-time 
meal; the upstate farm-wife in her 
ample kitchen canning fresh fruits 
and vegetables; and the metropoli- 
tan house-wife in her cramped 
kitchenette, dependent on the can- 
opener. These recommendations 
affect the busy executive gulping 
his meal at his desk; the soldier’s 
wife awaiting her first born alotie 
and requiring special dietary at- 
tention ; the school-boy running 
home to a skimpy lunch; the taxi- 
driver eating in a dismal coffee-pot; 
and the store clerk whose wages 
have not kept pace with rising food 
costs. 
Activities 
In developing the above recom- 
mendations, the Committee in- 
quired into the feeding of war 
workers, the school lunch program, 
the penny milk program, vitamin- 
fortification of foods, dietary hab- 
its, and many other nutritional 
problems. Chief emphasis during 
the past year has been upon diets 
served in State prisons and black 
markets in food. 
Public hearings: The Commit- 
tee held two public hearings which 
attracted wide attention and served 
to make available not only to our 
Committee but to nutritionists 
throughout the country a vast 
amount of valuable information. 
Testimony at the first hearing, 
was highlighted by a report by 
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt who 
spoke on her observations of British 
nutritional practices; by Mayor 
Fiorello H. LaGuardia, of New 
York City, who announced he 
would continue the school lunch 
program despite the threat of with- 
drawal of Federal financial assist- 
ance ; and by a sharp difference of 
opinion among experts who spoke 
on vitamin feeding of war workers. 
Federal, State and local officials in- 
formed our Committee of their 
respective nutritional activities and 
problems. 
The second hearing covered two 
main subjects: (a) 1944 Food and 
Nutritional Problems, and (b) 
Black Markets in Food. Federal 
food production goals were out- 
lined by Roy F. Hendrickson, 
Director of the Food Distribution 
Administration, and N. E. Dodd, 
Chief of the Agricultural Adjust- 
ment Agency. Dr. L. A. Maynard, 
Dean, School of Nutrition, Cornell 
University, spoke on pressing 
nutritional problems. Mayor La- 
Guardia, OPA Regional Adminis- 
10 trator Daniel P. Woolley, and 
representatives of the food indus- 
try informed us of their difficulties 
with black marketeering. Mr. J. 
M. Casey, President, Independent 
Meat Packers Association, urged 
adoption of a “holiday” on pork 
ration points. 
Staff surveys. The research staff 
of the Committee compiled a large 
amount of pertinent data, made 
field trips to secure first-hand in- 
formation from industrialists, labor 
leaders and nutrition experts, sur- 
veyed the nutritional activities of 
cities, investigated nutritional 
practices in war plants, analyzed 
nutritional policies of State pris- 
ons, conducted conferences bring- 
ing Federal and State officials 
together for cooperative efforts in 
combating black markets, and 
analyzed the nutritional activities 
of State departments. 
Committee reports: Gratifying 
was the reception given by doctors, 
nutritionists, food experts, women’s 
organizations, and the scientific and 
lay press to the first report of 
our Committee, “The Nutrition 
Front.” 
The second report of our Com- 
mittee will consolidate several 
reports, each dealing with a sepa- 
rate phase of nutrition and contain- 
ing articles by leading authorities. 
These reports were planned and 
edited under, the direction of Albert 
J. Abrams, assistant to the Chair- 
man of the Committee, with the 
assistance of G. A. Yaeger, of the 
research staff. 
Advisory Council: Early in the 
life of our Committee, an Advisory 
Council on Nutrition in Industry 
was appointed. The Council con- 
sisted of the following: Miss Elsie 
Bond, Assistant Secretary, State 
Charities Aid Association; Dr. 
Frank G. Boudreau, Chairman, 
Committee on Nutrition in Indus- 
try, National Research Council; 
Mr. Mark A. Daly, Executive Vice 
President, Associated Industries 
of New York State, Inc.; Dr. Eliza- 
beth N. Gardiner, Chairman, New 
York State Nutrition Committee; 
Lieutenant-Commander C. M. Mc- 
Cay, Professor, New York State 
College of Agriculture; Mr. G. H. 
Pfeif, Supervisor of Personnel, 
General Electric Company; Mr. 
John Sloane, former Chairman, 
Committee on Public Health and 
Welfare, New York State Chamber 
of Commerce; Mr. Gustave A. 
Strebel, President, New York State 
Industrial Union Council; and Mr. 
Lazare Teper, Director, Research 
Department, International Ladies’ 
Garment Workers’ Union. 
Acknowledgments 
To the hundreds of scientists, 
physicians, nutritionists, food 
experts and public officials who 
assisted and cooperated in the work 
of our Committee, we wish to 
express our appreciation. 
For assistance in enabling us to 
print our reports in attractive 
style, we wish particularly to thank 
Mr. Burt R. Rickards, Director, 
Division of Public Health Educa- 
tion, State Health Department, 
who enabled us to secure needed 
charts; the photographic section of 
the press bureau of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, 
which provided us with a wealth 
11 of attractive illustrative material; 
the Office of War Information, 
which provided us with photo- 
graphs; and Mr. Sara Andre, chief 
photographer of Pic Magazine, for 
his encouragement and counsel. 
The aid given our Committee by 
Mr. (I. R. Plumb, Chief, Bureau of 
Pood Control, State Department of 
Agriculture and Markets, and his 
food inspectors was also especially 
welcome. 
Conclusion 
Good nutrition pays for itself. 
For every dollar properly invested 
by government in improving the 
nutritional status of our people 
many more dollars are returned in 
increased vigor, health and produc- 
tivity. 
The science of nutrition lias 
opened up new horizons in man’s 
quest for a longer and more health- 
ful life. The food our farmers pro- 
duce may, if properly utilized, 
enable us to build a generation of 
citizens taller, stronger, more vigor- 
ous than ever before in our history. 
Here for our State and our Nation, 
is an opportunity and a challenge! 
Respectfully submitted: 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION 
State Senator Thomas C. Desmond, Chairman 
Assemblyman Jerome C. Kreinheder, Vice-Chairman 
State Senator Edward J. Coughlin, Secretary 
State Senator Perry B. Duryea 
State Senator Rodney B. Janes 
Assemblyman Edith C. Cheney 
Assemblyman Benjamin H. Demo 
Assemblyman Charles Bormann 
Note ry Senator Desmond, Chairman: Since tlie New York State Joint Legis- 
lative Committee on Nutrition made its recommendations on study of fluorine and 
while this report was still in the process of publication the New York State Depart- 
ment of Health in April, 1944, announced a long-range demonstration to prove the 
practicability of mass protection against dental caries through adding fluorine to 
public drinking supplies. The Department determined to introduce into Washington 
Lake, Newburgh, N. Y.. water supply, sodium fluoride at the rate of about one part 
to 1,000,000 gallons, while Kingston, N. Y., a city of approximately similar size, 
where sodium fluoride is not present in the city water, was to act as a negative side. 
In each city 1,000 school children were to have their teeth examined before the tests 
started, and thereafter the 3,500 children of the ages of five to 12 years in each 
city’s schools will have their teeth examined at least once a year, for 10 years. 
A comparative analysis will he made to determine whether any improvements have 
resulted from fluorination of the water. 
12 Table of Contents 
PACK 
Letter of Transmittal 3 
THIS HUNGRY WORLD, Part I Frontispiece ID 
Introduction, By Thomas C. Desmond 17 
How Much of the World Can We Feed? by Prof. F. A. Harper 1!) 
International Food Obligations and Domestic Food Policy by M. K. Bennett. ... 27 
1944 FOOD PROBLEMS, Part II Frontispiece 41 
.Meeting the Nation’s Wartime Nutrition Problem by Roy F. Hendrickson.. 44 
The Problem of Extending Nutrition Education by M. L. Wilson D.'i 
The 11)44 Need for Public Education in Nutrition by George R. Cowgill, Ph. 1).. . 5!) 
New York State’s 1944 Nutritional Problems by Dr. L. A. Maynard 04 
Challenging Our Food Policies by Donald Montgomery (i!) 
Reexamining Our National Nutrition Program by Robert S. Harris, Ph. I) 7(> 
1944 Food Production Goals by N. E. Dodd SI 
1944 Food Prospects and Problems by Paul S. Willis 88 
1944 Milk Prospects and Problems by Fred H. Se.vauer 90 
Inflation and Nutrition by Ray F. Harvey 107 
Anatomy of the Black Market by Maxwell Stewart 114 
Some of Father Knickerbocker’s Food Problems by Mayor Fiorello II. LaGuardia 117 
The Meat Situation in the City of New York by Joseph Cohn 124 
SCHOOL LUNCHES, Part HI Frontispiece 129 
Johnny Needs His Lunch by Thomas C. Desmond . 1.41 
The School Lunch Program from a National Point of View by Edna P. Amidon. 1.43 
The School Lunch Program in New York State by E. R. Van Kleeek 142 
The School Lunch Bill of the U. S. Office of Education—Federal Security Agency 
by Commissioner John W. Stuebaker IDO 
Need for a Revised School Lunch Program by Paul V. McNutt 1D3 
OUR DAILY BREAD, Part IV Frontispiece 1DD 
Introduction by Dr. Thomas Parran 1D7 
Bread—Your New Perfect Food by Thomas C. Desmond 159 
Our Daily Bread by Dr. W. L. Nelson and Dr. L. A. Maynard 104 
Public Health Aspects of Bread and Flour by Robert R. Williams 173 
Bread of the Future by Dr. C. M. McCay 179 
FOOD BEHIND BARS, Part V Frontispiece 187 
Introduction by Thomas C. Desmond 189 
13 Table of Contents 
Feeding Federal Prisoners by G. A. Foss.. 190 
Food in New York State Prisons by Albert J. Abrams 201 
Feeding New York City Prisoners by Peter F. Amoroso, M. I) 208 
APPENDICES 
Appendix A 
Resolution Continuing the Nutrition Committee 211 
Appendix B 
Federal Bureau of Prisons Memorandum on Rating of Menus 213 
Appendix C 
Federal Bureau of Prisons Daily Menu 214 
Appendix D 
Suggested State Inspector’s Report 217 
Appendix E 
Department of Correction Average of Cost of Food Per Prison Inmate 220 
14 This Hungry World 
Drawing by Herb Kruckman 
PART I 
CONSOLIDATED REPORT 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION 
15 Introduction 
Chairman, New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Nutrition 
Thomas C. Desmond 
Hunger stalks many parts of 
this world—not ordy dur- 
ing times of war, but also 
during times of peace. Two-thirds 
of the people of the world have 
never had enough to eat. In India 
nearly half of all deaths occur 
among children under 10 years of 
age, and malnutrition is believed to 
be the chief cause of these deaths. 
In China, food deficiency diseases 
are general among a majority of 
the population. Among our own 
people, probably the best fed in 
the world, we find that one-third 
suffer from “hidden hunger.” 
War has made things worse. 
Reports coming out of enemy-oc- 
cupied Europe depict millions of 
people living on sub-standard diets. 
The daily ration in France yields 
oidy 1,084 calories and is deficient 
in fat, protein and sugar. Tuber- 
culosis among children is appal- 
lingly high. A prominent French 
physiologist, Richet, has been im- 
prisoned for daring to declare that 
10 million persons are suffering 
from hunger and that two million 
are likely to die. 
In Greece, famine has taken a 
horrible toll. Only the wealthy 
Athenians can get an ounce of 
bread on alternate days, camomile 
tea and gruel, with oil and carrots 
and chicory coffee. The meat of 
dogs, rats and cats brings outrage- 
ous prices. 
To meet the growing needs of our 
Allies, we have increased our Lend- 
Lease food from 2 per cent of our 
food production in 1941, to 6 per 
cent in 1942, and more than 10 per- 
cent in 1943. American food has 
been a great help in feeding Mont- 
gomery’s army, the RAF, and mil- 
lions of war workers in British fac- 
tories. 
President Roosevelt has said, “It 
is safe to say that England could 
not have continued in the war with- 
out the help she received in Ameri- 
can and Canadian food.” Our 
policy has been to put a share of 
our food resources to the most ef- 
fective use against the enemy. We 
are sending food to the liberated 
people of North Africa, Sicily and 
Italy. Food is one of our most po- 
tent weapons in shortening the war 
and winning a lasting peace. 
One of the most hopeful steps 
toward freeing the world from the 
menace of starvation was the his- 
toric Hot Springs Conference, at 
which representatives of 44 nations 
met to arrange for a mutual attack 
on hunger and agreed on the need 
for some permanent United Nations 
agency on food and agriculture. 
But how many tons of wheat and 
meat and butter and other foods 
can we spare? How many people 
will we be called upon to feed and 
for how long? What commitments 
are now being made? These are 
questions which many people today 
are asking. 
To promote public understand- 
ing of some of the vital problems 
involved, our Committee decided to 
publish two notable reports bearing 
on world food problems. One 
is by Prof. F. A. Harper, of the 
17 Department of Agricultural Eco- 
nomics of Cornell University, and 
is substantially similar to an ad- 
dress he delivered at a public hear- 
ing of our Committee. 
The other is by Dr. M. K. Ben- 
nett, of the Food Research Insti- 
tute, Stanford University, and was 
prepared on the special request of 
our Committee. To both these au- 
thorities, our Committee wishes to 
express its appreciation for their 
cooperation. This is one of five 
reports, edited by the director of 
our Committee’s staff, Albert J. 
Abrams, assisted by G. A. Yaeger, 
relating to current nutrition prob- 
lems. 
18 How Much of the World Can We Feed? 
Prof. F. A. Harper 
Department of Agricultural Economics, Cornell University 
Vegetables grown in the United States and dehydrated for economical shipment 
across the Atlantic provide a hot, nourishing dish for little evacuees from London’s 
East End. British War Ministry 
Promises have been made to 
other nations that the United 
States will contribute sizable 
quantities of food for their needs 
during the war, and for a time 
thereafter. Nations having popu- 
lations more than 10 times that of 
the population of the United States 
may believe themselves eligible for 
a portion of this promised shower 
of manna (Table 1). 
19 TABLE 1 
Prewar Populations 
of Allied and 
Occupied Countries 
Population 
Per cent 
Number 
of 
in 
United 
Classification of Country 
millions 
States 
United States 
132 
100 
Allies, except United States.. . 
1,089 
826 
Allies, occupied by Axis 
233 
176 
Pro-Ally, and neutral but oc- 
copied by Allies 
81 
61 
Total, except United States 
1,403 
1,063 
of international politics to help 
feed people in Axis countries. 
A common belief is that large 
surpluses of agricultural products 
have existed in the United States 
for many years; that overproduc- 
tion and enormous food supplies 
caused the agricultural depression. 
We have not had any sizable carry- 
over of food in the true sense of 
the word, even during these depres- 
sion years.1 A false impression of 
the size of our food reserves can 
arise from looking at stocks 
immediately after harvest without 
deducting needs in this country 
until the next harvest season. Also, 
the physical size of the carryover 
may sound impressive and deceive 
us unless we convert it into the 
daily food requirements either of 
our 134 million people, or of any 
larger group we may try to feed. 
The only appreciable food reserves 
we have are wheat and the inven- 
tories of livestock, both of which 
would feed the 1.4 billion people 
their calorie requirements for only 
about three weeks; or it would 
partly feed them for a longer time. 
The livestock of the country repre- 
sents a reservoir of food, but they 
cannot be eaten and at the same 
time serve as the breeding stock 
necessary to maintain our current 
production of these products. 
Can We Increase Food 
Production? 
Another source of food supplies 
to be sent abroad would be to in- 
crease our total food production. 
But that seems impossible except 
on the basis of increasingly favor- 
Of course, we shall not have to 
feed all these people by ourselves. 
They raise much of their own food. 
It has been variously estimated that 
immediately after the war the food 
deficiency in Europe (including 
Russia) may be roughly equivalent 
to the entire food requirements for 
a population equivalent to that of 
the United States; this is one way 
of representing the partial food 
needs of a much greater number of 
people. In Asia the food needs are 
tremendous—almost whatever you 
want to call it, up to that of two or 
three times the number of people 
in the United States. 
Other nations, like Canada, Aus- 
tralia and Argentina, will con- 
tribute some of their extra food. 
But we have talked much about 
what the United States would do, 
and so this discussion is devoted 
only to the question of what Ave 
are likely to be able to do in feed- 
ing the world. 
It may be said that Ave do not 
really intend to feed a very large 
proportion of these 1.4 billion peo- 
ple. But on the other hand the 
number of people to be fed may be 
increased after Avar, because it may 
then appear necessary for purposes 
1 Pearson, F. A., Myers, W. I., and Bennett, K. R., Food Surpluses, Farm Eco- 
nomics, No. 125, May 1941. 
20 able weather, which is unlikely. In 
fact, we are properly concerned 
with whether or not we can main- 
tain production at recent levels, 
aside from increasing it. The 
weather in recent years has been 
exceedingly favorable and yields 
have been high.2 In 1943 we were 
again blessed with favorable 
weather and the resulting yields 
were probably about one-sixth 
higher than we had any right to 
expect. 
Reduction of food wastes is a 
passible means of making our pro- 
duction go somewhat farther. But 
one highly effective inducement 
to prevention of wastage is lacking 
in our present national wartime 
food policy, namely, retail food 
prices high enough to place a 
burden on consumers’ incomes. The 
average person in the United States 
need spend only 15 cents of every 
dollar of income to buy the food to 
maintain his 1935-39 diet; and 
after tax payments and living 
expenditures of all types he still 
has 26 cents left unspent. Under 
these conditions people are little 
worried about the cost—or about 
waste either, until the market is 
drained of food or their ration 
stamps are gone, and they cannot 
get it at any price. All things con- 
sidered, reduction of waste prob- 
ably will not help much in ful- 
filling our food promises to our 
allies. 
We could tighten our belts a 
little in terms of food intake. But 
we probably will not do this much 
for the Nation as a whole. Waist- 
lines may be reduced some, but 
energy requirements have been in- 
creased greatly for those in the 
armed forces, for defense workers, 
and even for the white-collared 
workers who are relearning how to 
walk. Each person requires about 
so much food each day or they 
will lose weight and energy rapidly. 
The Chinese people, for instance, 
do not “get along on a fraction 
of the food we eat”; studies show 
that they eat about as much as we 
do—except in famine areas. But 
they eat much cheaper and less 
palatable foods. So we cannot 
expect our people to eat much less 
food, measured in calories or in 
digestible dry matter. 
If we cannot find the food for 
shipment to other countries in our 
inventories, in increased produc- 
tion, in reduced waste, or in lower 
food intake, where can we find it? 
In order to judge the possibilities 
resulting from changes in our con- 
sumption and in the marketing 
utilization of our products, a 
summary was prepared of the 
forms in which we have been using 
our crop and livestock food 
products. The summary is based 
on estimates of 1942 production. 
The picture which such a summary 
gives would change some from year 
to year in its details, but not in 
its main outlines. 
In this analysis the food supply 
was analyzed in terms of calories. 
Of course, other considerations are 
important from the standpoint of 
adequate nutrition. But this 
analysis is directed toward the 
question of how much we can con- 
tribute to prevention of world 
2 Pearson, F. A., Myers, W. I., and Paarlberg, Don, l9 f/2 Farm Production, Farm 
Economics, No. 133, December 1942. 
21 starvation. Calories are the mar- 
ginal food requirement of people.3 
Foods high in calories, though pos- 
sibly short of other desired ele- 
ments, are usually the last defense 
against death of people on the 
verge of starvation. In fact, about 
two-thirds of the people in the 
world subsist continuously in nor- 
mal times on diets composed of 80 
per cent or more of foods of this 
type—cereals, potatoes, and the 
like.4 An objective of diets 
throughout the world which are 
safely adequate in all known nutri- 
tional aspects is enticing, but for 
most of the world it will continue 
to be a remote dream for the dura- 
tion and for a long time thereafter. 
The world’s food markets will 
trade primarily in calories. 
About 60 per cent of the food 
we eat comes from crops (Table 2). 
Of this amount about one-third is 
used more or less in its natural 
form and the other two-thirds in 
one of the refined or processed 
forms. In the refining or process- 
ing, those parts edible for humans 
but less palatable or desirable are 
usually separated and diverted into 
livestock feed or other uses; this 
is common with the cereals and 
soybeans. 
About 40 per cent of the calories 
in the food we eat comes from 
meats and livestock products. Milk, 
dairy products, pork, and lard 
make up three-fourths of this 
group. 
In a complete listing of our food 
products, we find a total caloric 
content 4.11 times our annual food 
needs (Table 2). Of this total, 1.15 
appeared to go into human food 
channels, and when wastage is 
deducted the resulting figure 
would agree reasonably well with 
our annual food requirement. 
Livestock feed uses took calories 
equivalent to nearly three times 
(2.88) our annual food needs. In- 
dustrial uses took about one 
month’s caloric requirements. 
3 Monsch, Helen, and Harper, Marguerite K., Feeding Babies and Their Families, 
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (1943), page 21. 
4 Bennett, Merrill K., International Contrasts in Food Consumption, The Geo- 
graphical Review, Vol. XXXI, No. 3, July 1941. 
22  
TABLE 2 
Domestic Uses and Human 
Feeding Power of 
Production, 1942* 
United States 
Agricultural 
Per cent 
of 
human food 
from each 
product 
22 
6 
1 
3 
Uses of Each Product, Expressed Relative to 
United States Annual Food Needs as l.Of 
Product 
Cereals: 
Wheat 
Corn 
Oats 
Other 
Human 
food! 
.25 
.08 
.01 
.03 
Livestock 
feed 
.24 
2.06 
.29 
.11 
Industrial 
uses 
.05 2 
'.02 
All 
uses 
.49 
.19 
.30 
.16 
All cereals 
Legumes, dry: 
Soybeans 
Other 
3 
5 
32 
.37 
.04 
.05 
2.70 
.09 
.01 
.01 
.07 
.14 
.06 
3.14 
All legumes 
Vegetables: 
Potatoes, Irish 
Other 
4 
2 
8 
.09 
.04 
.03 
.10 
.01 
.04 
.03 
.20 
All vegetables 
Fruits 
Sugar crops 
Cottonseed oil 
6 
4 
6 
3 
.07 
.05 
.06 
.04 
' ‘.6i 
.07 
.05 
.07 
.04 
59 
.68 
2.81 
.08 
3.57 
Livestock and products: 
Milk and products 
Pork and lard 
Other meats 
Eggs 
17 
14 
8 
2 
.19 
.17 
.09 
.02 
.07 
.26 
.17 
.09 
.02 
All livestock and products.... 
41 
.47 
.07 
.54 
All crops, livestock and products.... 
100 
1.15 
2.88 
.08 
4 11 
* Items of production were combined on the basis of their caloric content. Utilization was based on 
the most recent information that could be found, usually 1942, Figures exclude seed, breeding stock, and 
surpluses over domestic use. 
t Based on requirements of 134,566 billion calories per year, or 3,500 calories daily per adult male 
cm*iv diuuit 
t Includes some wastage, because of the sources from which derived. 
Elimination of use of these crops 
for livestock feed and for indus- 
trial uses would increase greatly 
the human feeding power of our 
agricultural production. However, 
it is not correct to say that if we 
eliminated livestock feed and in- 
dustrial uses, we would then have 
calories enough to feed our Nation 
4.11 years. The reason is that 
without using these crops as part 
of our livestock feed we would not 
have as large a figure as 0.47 year’s 
food supply from livestock and 
livestock products. The 4.11 figure 
contains some double counting. 
Crops are included as such, as well 
as the meat and livestock products 
produced from them. If we 
eliminated entirely the livestock 
feed and industrial uses of these 
crops and saved them all for use 
as human food, we would have 
more nearly 3.75 times our annual 
food needs. This would involve 
sharp reductions in our consump- 
tion of poultry and eggs, pork and 
lard, and dairy products, together 
with corresponding increases in 
consumption. 
Corn Leads in Food Power 
Corn is by far our leading 
product in feeding power. It is 
more important than all our other 
products combined. Although only 
6 per cent of our diet is corn or 
23 corn products, our corn crop if all 
used for human food would supply 
the country with its food require- 
ment of calories for over two years. 
The states of Illinois, Iowa, and 
Nebraska alone produce enough 
corn to supply the Nation with its 
human food in calories for a year. 
Most of our corn is used as live- 
stock feed. The caloric content of 
the part so used is nearly four times 
the caloric content of all meat and 
livestock products in our entire 
national consumption. And corn 
is far from the only livestock feed 
used. Many other cereals are used, 
as well as the forage crops. This 
indicates how many calories are 
lost in converting food into meats 
and livestock products. To the 
millions who are now starving, it 
probably seems wasteful to use as 
livestock feed anything which 
could be used for human food. 
We in the United States have had 
a diet composed 40 per cent (in 
calories) of meats and livestock 
products only because we could 
afford that luxury. We like to 
eat those products better than the 
things from which they are pro- 
duced. But converting one into 
the other is wasteful. Meat 
production represents a caloric 
waste of probably 85 per cent; if 
we feed 100 calories to animals, we 
get perhaps 15 calories back in the 
meat produced. This figure for 
wastage includes the food neces- 
sary to maintain breeding stock. 
The wastage of calories in livestock 
production is because of (1) in- 
complete assimilation by the 
animals, (2) production of “in- 
edible portions” of animals, includ- 
ing death losses, and (3) the caloric 
requirements of the animals for 
activity and maintenance of body 
temperature. 
It is misleading to judge the 
efficiency of livestock by comparing 
the pounds of grain fed with the 
pounds of resulting product. Such 
a comparison looks favorable for 
milk for two reasons; first, grain is 
only a part of the feed of dairy 
cows, and second, milk is 87 per 
cent water whereas grain is only 
10 per cent water. A similar cau- 
tion is needed for eggs, which are 
74 per cent water, and for meats, 
which range from 40 to 70 per 
cent water. 
The only way, then, that we 
can send much food to other coun- 
tries is by sending our accumulated 
wheat stocks and by reducing our 
grain consuming livestock so as 
to release for human consumption 
the grain that they would eat. 
The wheat stocks would disappear 
rapidly if we tried to feed many 
people. Furthermore, we have 
been for many months feeding np 
our wheat stocks to our overpopu- 
lated livestock industries, and in 
the process losing five out of every 
six calories. That process is con- 
tinuing rapidly in the United 
States, and prospects bid fair to 
use practically all our surplus 
wheat as livestock feed before the 
1944 corn crop is ready to use. 
That is the real form of food waste 
going on in the United States now 
—not what goes in the garbage pail 
or down the drain! 
Any sustained help to other 
nations will, then, have to come in 
the form of grain released from 
livestock feed. If we are willing 
to do that, and consequently to 
24 shift our consumption “from pork 
chops to eornmeal,” our ability to 
help feed the rest of the world is 
fairly impressive. But the help we 
can give will not amount to much 
on any other basis. Such a pro- 
gram calls for reduction, not in- 
crease, in production of products 
like poultry and eggs, and pork and 
lard. It is the opposite of the 
natural effects of present price 
policies which are freezing the hog- 
corn ratio at 15. We cannot feed 
both increasing livestock numbers 
and starving Europeans. It would 
be nice to send them pork chops 
and butter, but neither they nor we 
can afford it. 
Any program of reducing live- 
stock numbers has the initial effect 
of rapidly increasing human food 
supplies. At the start we would 
have as human food both the meat 
from the slaughtered stock, and 
the food released from feeding 
them. This double effect does not 
last long. Our entire livestock in- 
ventory, on a caloric base, would 
feed the Nation only about three 
months. After that we would have 
to live on the eornmeal without the 
pork as a side dish. 
Direction of Change Indicated 
If we were to go the limit and 
reduce livestock so far that no 
human food products would be 
converted into meats and livestock 
products, we could, with continued 
favorable crop weather, feed about 
one-fourth of these 1.4 billion peo- 
ple on a continuing basis. Such an 
extreme shift is unlikely. But that 
is the direction of change in our 
agricultural production and in our 
diets that will have to occur, if we 
are to supply much food to other 
countries. How far we will go 
depends on the extent of encour- 
agement or discouragement given 
to livestock production. So far 
livestock production has been en- 
couraged. So long as we have the 
livestock, we will feed them; this 
will help justify our reluctance to 
shift our consumption in the direc- 
tion of a cereal diet. 
It appears that we have not even 
made a start, as a nation, in over- 
all food sacrifice. Since 1939, the 
level of food living appears to have 
gone up 20 per cent.5 This rise is 
not in calories. It represents more 
consumption of the highly-prized 
foods, and more of the various 
marketing services on food. Rid- 
ing on the crest of several years of 
unusually favorable weather for 
crops, of excess stocks of corn and 
wheat at the start of the war 
(which are about gone now, as 
livestock feed), and of a doubling 
since prewar in consumers’ family 
incomes, we have expanded our 
livestock production to the point 
where even normal weather will 
create a serious feed shortage. 
This trend is just the opposite of 
what must occur if we are to be 
able to increase the human feeding 
power of the crops we produce. 
Aside from the feeding of millions 
of our hungry allies, the situation 
has already advanced to the point 
where local shortages in the United 
States have been reported of the 
cheap, “primary foods,” like coru- 
meal and wheat flour. 
s Harper, F. A., and Curtiss, W. M., United States Level of Living Rises During 
War, A. E. 466, December 11, 1943. 
25 Figuratively speaking, we can 
have both guns and pork chops, or 
we can have guns, and both our 
Allies and we can have “ corn- 
meal.’ ’ 
How to work this out and main- 
tain adequate nutritional stand- 
ards at home calls for thorough 
study by our nutritional authori- 
ties. 
26 International Food Obligations and 
Domestic Food Policy 
M. K. Bennett 
Is the United States committed 
internationally to provide for- 
eign peoples with more food 
than we can supply ? Have we led 
these peoples to expect more than 
we can deliver ? What is the right 
course to steer between our obliga- 
tions to them and our obligations to 
ourselves? Ought we to reorient 
food-production policies in order 
best to fulfill our international 
obligations ? Ought we to plan now 
for prolongation of governmental 
restrictions of domestic food con- 
sumption into the postwar period? 
Food Research Institute, Stanford University, California 
Questions like these have con- 
cerned thoughtful Americans for 
many months. They are framed 
sometimes with reference to a post- 
war period, sometimes with refer- 
ence to the opening up of food- 
deficit areas by Allied conquest 
either while war is proceeding in 
both Europe and Asia, or while war 
in Asia is continuing but the war 
in Europe is over. Diverse types of 
fears seem commonly to prompt the 
queries. There are panicky fears 
that our food policy may fail as an 
instrument of war, humanitarian 
British pit boys lunch on American cheese sandwiches 
27 fears that it will fall short of ethical 
obligations, statesmanlike fears 
that it may fail as a “lever for 
peace,” selfish fears that inter- 
national generosity may involve 
discomforts at home. 
Sheer clairvoyance would be 
required to mold and fix our 
food policy now in such a way 
that history will certainly prove 
it to have been appropriate. The 
dilemma may be stated as follows: 
On the one hand, our interna- 
tional obligations may seem now 
to involve maximum domestic food 
output in order to provide maxi- 
mum shipments abroad. On the 
other hand, overexpansion of agri- 
cultural output during and shortly 
after the war may subsequently 
involve painful readjustment of 
price levels and the farm plant 
if or when European agricul- 
ture in particular begins to recover 
and to shrink the markets for 
our food exports. No one wants 
to fail to meet our interna- 
tional obligations. No one wants 
fulfillment of these to involve us in 
postwar agricultural depression. 
But the right course to steer is diffi- 
cult to see because we can perceive 
only vaguely what the obligations 
are in terms of dollars and of tons 
of food, when they will fall due, 
how the weather will affect our 
crops, how war-weary populations 
may support official food controls 
when peace comes, or how price 
levels may behave as time passes. 
One thing is certain; our food 
policy must change from time to 
time in order to meet changing cir- 
cumstances now altogether un- 
predictable and largely beyond 
human control. 
Uncertainties or no uncertainties, 
a course must be steered. Five 
points are offered here with refer- 
ence to it. 
1. Our international food obliga- 
tions cannot be specifically defined 
now in terms of quantities and 
values. Nevertheless an obligation 
exists to supply needy foreign 
peoples with food, and policies 
ought to be shaped accordingly. 
2. Execution of our international 
food obligations would be greatly 
facilitated by prolongation of the 
powers of the War Food Adminis- 
tration and the Office of Price 
Administration for some months at 
least into the postwar period. The 
present — or improved — govern- 
mental machinery ought to be main- 
tained. 
3. Whatever the extent of our 
international food obligations, the 
historical pattern of agricultural 
production in the United States 
ought not to be too greatly distorted 
because of them. In particular, an 
all-out reconversion of agriculture 
such as to maximize grain produc- 
tion to the utmost and minimize 
livestock production to the utmost 
ought to be avoided. Neverthe- 
less great care ought to be exercised 
to safeguard the North American 
wheat carryover of 1944 against 
undue absorption by livestock at 
least until more is known about 
1944 production of grain and pota- 
toes in the Northern Hemisphere 
and about the probable end of the 
war. 
4. Whatever the extent of our 
international food obligations, the 
historical pattern of food consump- 
tion in the United States ought not 
to be too greatly distorted because 
of them. Nevertheless the Ameri- 
28 can public ought to be prepared 
soon by appropriate official leader- 
ship for a civilian level of consump- 
tion of certain commodities 15 per 
cent or so below prewar levels. 
5. Conclusion of the war in 
Europe before the end of 1944 is 
sufficiently possible to warrant 
specific planning for it. The end of 
hostilities there is nearly certain to 
create a “crisis period” during 
which food ought to be thrown into 
liberated areas in large volume. 
Large stockpiles of such storable 
commodities as wheat grain, wheat 
flour, corn grain, corn meal, dried 
beans and peas, vegetable oils, 
canned evaporated milk, dried milk, 
vitamin C, fish-liver oils, and pos- 
sibly sugar ought to be accumulated 
now by the appropriate agencies, 
whether War Food Administration, 
Foreign Economic Administration, 
United Nations Relief and Rehabi- 
litation Administration, or Array. 
What Are Our Commitments? 
Interminable dispute would be 
possible about the extent to which 
the United States stands commit- 
ted to extend food aid (not count- 
ing, of course, ordinary commer- 
cial exports) to foreign peoples 
during and after the war. Nowhere 
in public official documents will one 
find drawn up a list showing (a) 
which of the foreign peoples are or 
will become eligible to receive it, 
(b) what funds are or will be 
appropriated to finance it, and (e) 
what specific foods in what speci- 
fic quantities are or will be sent 
to the recipients. Rather, we have 
on the one hand a series of state- 
ments, general in character and not 
easy to interpret, by prominent 
officials about feeding other 
nations; and on the other hand a 
series of specific commitments 
which do not add up to a picture 
of total commitment. 
Little is to be gained by attempt- 
ing to collect and interpet the state- 
ments of high administrative offi- 
cials. Those statements may well 
give many the impression that 
“promises” have been made to 
“feed the world.” “Big talk” 
there has undoubtedly been; but 
the unqualified promise is not to be 
found. Perhaps as strong a state- 
ment as any was one ascribed in 
press reports to President Roose- 
velt: “No one will go hungry or 
be without other means of liveli- 
hood in any territory occupied by 
the United Nations, if it is humanly 
within our powers to make the 
necessary supplies available to 
them.”1 This is not a promise to 
feed the world. For “territory 
occupied by the United Nations” 
is not the world, the phrase 
“humanly within our powers” is 
restrictive, and ‘ ‘ to make the neces- 
sary supplies available” need not 
mean that the supplies or the fin- 
ance must come from the United 
States alone. Many other state- 
ments by high officials could be 
quoted to show that the Adminis- 
tration feels keenly the desirability 
of extending food aid to foreign 
peoples—at least some foreign peo- 
ples—both for winning the war and 
winning the peace. Always can be 
found, however, either explicity or 
implicitly, the qualifications “so 
far as we can” and “so far as it 
serves the national interest.” 
i New York Times, Nov. 14, 1942, p. 3. 
29 United States food is moving now 
in noncommercial account to many 
foreign countries — to fighting 
allies like Great Britain and the 
Soviet Union; to the people of a 
conquered ally, Greece; to some of 
the people of an ex-enemy, Italy. 
It may have moved to a sympathe- 
tic neutral, Turkey. All of it has 
been financed by Congressional 
appropriations, either for the 
Lend-Lease Act or for the armed 
forces. Appropriations for the 
United States contribution to the 
UNRRA are in course of being 
approved. Under those, food will 
eventually move to additional geo- 
graphical areas though perhaps not 
to additional political or military 
categories of nations. Thus the 
Congress too feels the desirability 
of extending food aid to foreign 
peoples. The policy is aid, present 
and future—not no aid. 
It is not clearly to be seen, how- 
ever, whether the policy is mini- 
mum aid or maximum aid. This 
is not surprising. Food situations 
abroad must be dealt with one after 
another as they arise under chang- 
ing circumstances. It is utterly 
impossible for the Congress or the 
Administration to say: so and so 
many dollars shall be spent for 
food aid to foreign peoples, no more 
and no less whatever the tides of 
war or of international politics; or 
so and so many tons of this or of 
that, no more and no less, shall be 
sent out of the country to aid for- 
eign peoples; or this nation or that 
irrevocably shall receive and this 
one or that shall not. In short, a 
blueprint rigidly to be followed 
whatever the course of events can- 
not be drawn in matters of this 
kind. 
About all that can be said with 
assurance about obligations or com- 
mitments is that our country has 
taken seriously upon herself the 
task of extending food aid to needy 
peoples almost throughout the 
world, but has reserved to herself 
the determination of recipients, of 
amounts, and of values as chang- 
ing circumstances and her own 
national interests seem to warrant. 
The commitments are vague. But 
they are none the less real. Domes- 
tic food policies must be shaped 
with reference to the international 
obligations, vague as they may be. 
Obviously the shaping of domes- 
tic policy would be made easier if 
only the volume, kinds, and value 
of prospective food needs of for- 
eign peoples could be foreseen, 
together with the timing of effec- 
tive demands and the opportuni- 
ties to supply them from other 
countries than the United States. 
On this subject it is rash to venture 
an opinion. Nevertheless there 
appears to have been in the United 
States a tendency to picture pros- 
pective food shortages abroad, 
especially in Continental Europe, 
as more extreme than they may 
prove to be when the facts can be 
known rather than guessed. And, 
on the assumption that the wTar in 
Europe ends during 1944 while the 
war in Asia continues about a year 
longer, it seems not unreasonable to 
suppose that world effective import 
demands for food and feed from 
the exporting countries may not 
exceed 30-40 million metric tons in 
the first year after the shooting 
stops in Europe—between two and 
three times the volume moving in 
the crop year 1943-44. This might 
leave wheat, and perhaps a few 
30 other commodities, still in a condi- 
tion of mild surplus at the end of 
the first year following cessation 
of hostilities in Europe, though the 
international position of most com- 
modities would presumably be 
tight. In short, if one looks for- 
ward to a year of partial peace 
beginning not many months from 
now (and is it profitable now to 
look much farther?), the picture 
of the world food situation is not 
one of unqualified, inevitable, and 
general tightness.2 
Governmental Controls 
The maximum effective demands 
of foreign peoples for food (from 
all sources of supply) presumably 
cannot emerge until either the war 
in Europe ends, with hostilities con- 
tinuing in Asia; or the war in Asia 
ends, with hostilities continuing in 
Europe; or the wars in both thea- 
ters end. Any of these combina- 
tions of events would open up 
areas not now receiving food from 
overseas sources, thus raising the 
volume of world trade from its pre- 
sent level. Demands from the 
European theater seem likely to 
run much larger than those from 
the Asiatic theater. Whichever the 
course of events, the United States, 
conscious of obligations, would pre- 
sumably feel a pressure to export 
more of many or most foods than 
is being exported now. Sound 
policy requires that a step-up in 
the level of food exports be antici- 
pated whether or not the year (or 
months) of maximum level of 
exports can be foreseen, whether or 
not the level itself can be fore- 
seen, and whether the year of maxi- 
mum level turns out to be a war 
year or an early year of peace. 
Our obligations to aid in feeding 
foreign peoples are governmental 
obligations. They clearly spread 
in time from present wartime cir- 
cumstances to future wartime cir- 
cumstances to future peacetime cir- 
cumstances, and they may be sup- 
posed to terminate in times of 
peace. The wartime obligations 
such as we now assume are fulfilled 
by governmental agencies. By no 
stretch of the imagination could 
they be fulfilled by private enter- 
prise. Existence of international 
obligations is in fact predicated 
upon the existence of governmental 
agencies to fulfill them. This we 
accept in wartime. 
If our international food obliga- 
tions are to be thought of as real 
in a peacetime period (not inde- 
finitely prolonged) following the 
war, then the existence of govern- 
mental agencies to fulfill those 
obligations ought to be taken for 
granted in at least a short postwar 
period. This is not to say that 
all wartime agencies now engaged 
in food management will neces- 
sarily be needed then. Probably 
one or another ought to be termi- 
nated, but the choice among them 
may well be deferred. 
The functions that ought to per- 
sist for a time into the postwar 
period, however, can perhaps be 
specified now. Governmental 
authority to control prices ought to 
hold over. Governmental control 
2 See M. K. Bennett, Food for Postwar Europe: How Much and Whatf (Food 
Research Institute, War-Peace Pamphlets 5, Stanford University, California, 
March 1944). 
31 of imports and exports, and of 
shipping, ought to hold over. The 
several types of wartime restric- 
tion on domestic food use ought to 
hold over. Governmental alloca- 
tion of supplies as between domes- 
tic and foreign claimants ought to 
be protracted. It is not so clear 
that governmental direction of 
agricultural production will then 
be as necessary as it seems now. 
But if our international obligations 
mean that we are committed to 
allow foreign peoples in a postwar 
year or two to share in our food 
output more or less as they share 
now, by providing them with non- 
commercial imports, it seems essen- 
tial to maintain the existing basic 
governmental machinery for shar- 
ing. Modifications of operation 
may be possible and desirable, but 
to junk the machinery altogether 
would entail the risk of defaulting 
on the international obligations. 
How Much to Strain? 
If one has in mind a picture of 
scores or hundreds of millions of 
accessible foreign peoples starving 
or about to starve in the future, 
together with a conviction that our 
international obligations are to do 
our absolute utmost to prevent this, 
it may seem reasonable to conclude 
that the appropriate immediate 
food-product policy of the United 
States, in addition to an all-out 
production program, is to abandon 
livestock production except in so 
far as animals can survive on 
materials inedible to man. This 
would save for human consump- 
tion vast quantities of edible items, 
especially grain, that have cus- 
tomarily been fed to animals. There 
is an enormous “Joss” of food 
(measured in calories) in the feed- 
ing of grain to animals. As Pro- 
fessor Harper points out, we could 
—if the weather continued favor- 
able—provide enough food calories 
for about 350 million people abroad 
by reducing our livestock so far 
that no human foods would be con- 
verted into meats and livestock 
products. That is many times the 
number that we could possibly 
provide with food calories on the 
present basis of utilizing our crops. 
Such a drastic alteration of our 
agricultural system, however, 
would be defensible only on the 
assumptions (a) that foreign peo- 
ples needed or will need all these 
calories, and (b) that the nation 
stands under obligation to provide 
them all. The second assumption is 
not valid; no such commitments 
have been made. The first assump- 
tion is surely far from valid with 
regard to the current crop year. 
In all probability it will not be 
valid for the crop year 1944-45. 
Nobody can speak now with much 
assurance about its probable valid- 
ity for or a later year. 
Even if the assumptions were 
valid, it would be utterly unwise to 
jeopardize the future by so drastic 
a revolution in our agricultural 
system. To reduce the livestock 
count so drastically would be to 
destroy capital, to injure the func- 
tioning of a delicate mechanism, 
and to impair the national diet 
greatly. It may well be, as Vice- 
President Wallace has said, that 
“it is also part of the American 
tradition that we will not willingly 
stand idly by in the midst of pro- 
32 voidable starvation.”3 But the 
American tradition equally does 
not contemplate either reducing our 
own levels of food nse to those of 
the most wretched populations in 
the world in order to prevent star- 
vation beyond our boundaries, or 
driving into poverty the large frac- 
tion of our farm population which 
depends upon livestock for the bulk 
of its income. Generosity has its 
limits with nations as with indivi- 
duals, in historical practice if not 
in all types of ethical theory. 
It would be downright foolish to 
embark upon a drastic liquidation 
of livestock so as to release for 
export enormous quantities of 
grain, and then to discover that the 
grain was neither needed nor 
wanted, or if needed could not be 
transported to its destinations. 
That alone is enough of a risk to 
deter any responsible official from 
espousing now a genuinely drastic 
plan for curtailing the livestock 
count. 
Nevertheless there are obliga- 
tions to foreign peoples, and our 
contributions to them could he 
larger if less grain went to live- 
stock. The problem is to steer the 
right course. The objective in 
policy that warrants the most 
serious consideration now, in the 
month of March 1944, is that of 
safeguarding the North American 
carryover of wheat (as of next July 
-August) against unduly heavy 
absorption especially by United 
States livestock. To safeguard 
only the United States carryover 
is illogical, granted the good rela- 
tions with Canada and increased 
availability of transportation faci- 
lities; no harm would necessarily 
follow reduction of the specifically 
I nited States carryover so 1 ou«»• as 
enough wheat remained in Canada. 
Our obligations to foreign peoples 
could be fulfilled so long as Can- 
adian wheat could be drawn upon 
in adequate quantity—a matter 
which might well require modifica- 
tion of existing plans and practices, 
but not drastic or impossible modi- 
fication. Wheat is the only really 
large reserve of food in the world, 
with the possible exception of new- 
crop corn in Argentina. Yet wheat 
stocks in North America are cur- 
rently being eaten up at a rapid 
rate by the enormously inflated 
livestock herds. Circumstances 
have changed. Two years ago, 
expansion of livestock herds was 
desirable partly in order to meet 
demands from our fighting allies, 
and heavy use of wheat for feed was 
justified. Now an upsurge of 
demand for grain products looms 
nearer and relatively more import- 
ant. 
How large a 1944 North Ameri- 
can wheat carryover should be 
sought? Here opinions may differ 
sharply. Present prospects point 
toward some 685 million bushels, 
of which something like 170 million 
ought to be regarded as working 
stocks, not exportable. The remain- 
ing (prospective) 515 million 
bushels, though well above a normal 
peacetime level, does not look com- 
fortably large if one considers 
various contingencies — say the 
coincidence of end of the European 
war in the next six months with 
spring and summer drought in the 
Great Plains of the United States 
s H. A. Wallace, “Food for Victory and Jobs for Peace,” United Nations Reviev> 
(New York), Nov. 15, 1943, p. 460. 
33 and Canada and with a very low 
yield of 1944 grain crops in the 
Soviet Union. Such a coincidence 
would throw something like a maxi- 
mum foreign demand for wheat— 
and other foods—upon exporting 
countries at a time when the new 
North American crops might not be 
promising much more than enough 
wheat for a year’s minimum use 
in North America. 
Thus the 1944 wheat carryover 
ought to be safeguarded now from 
inroads due to excessive use of 
wheat for animal feed, and prob- 
ably also from inroads due to the 
use of wheat for production of 
industrial alcohol, in the next few 
months. If a measuring rod is 
necessary with respect to the appro- 
priate size of the North American 
carryover, a figure of around 800 
million bushels seems reasonable at 
this time. To fix on the right figure 
is like the problem of an individual 
in fixing upon the amount of life 
insurance he ought to carry; he 
will wish to assure his family of 
living expenses not too far below 
their accustomed level, but he can- 
not in good conscience allow the 
cost of his insurance to cut too 
sharply into the accustomed level 
of family living. 
The appropriate mechanisms for 
holding the North American wheat 
carryover to the appropriate level 
need not be fully explored here. 
But it can clearly be seen that a 
very important device is the mani- 
pulation of prices of hogs, poul- 
try, and eggs in relation to feed 
prices in order to render hog and 
poultry production less profitable. 
No one can be certain, perhaps, that 
sufficient competence and co-opera- 
tive spirit exists in our governmen- 
tal agencies to accomplish this 
delicate operation without either 
forcing an extreme reduction of 
pigs and poultry or failing to ele- 
vate the wheat carryover suffi- 
ciently. Yet if the decision to 
strive earnestly for such a carry- 
over should he taken now by 
responsible officials, a degree of 
success ought to be expected to 
crown the efforts. 
This is a suggestion for a con- 
crete numerical objective that 
seems reasonable now, in March 
1944. It is not suggested as an 
objective equally reasonable for 
May or June. New-crop develop- 
ments and war developments from 
week to week ought to modify it 
-—downward if the end of the war 
looks increasingly remote and if 
new-crop developments in Europe 
and the Soviet Union as well as in 
North America look increasingly 
promising, upward if developments 
are in the opposite direction. The 
task of changing decisions is diffi- 
cult. Yet there seems to be no 
more important central feature of 
food-production policy than de- 
cision about the size of the wheat 
carryover, with impact upon live- 
stock count regarded as subsidiary. 
Long ago the Europeans learned 
that the center of food policy in 
times of shortage is to safeguard 
the bread-grain (and potato) sup- 
ply, adjusting other policy de- 
cisions to this. The time has now 
come, if we take our international 
food obligations seriously, for us to 
adopt their broad philosophy. 
Consumption Policy 
Not all of the food-policy decis- 
ions desirable in fulfilling our in- 
ternational food obligations lie on 
34 the side of production policy— 
safeguarding the wheat carryover 
and curtailing livestock in the 
process. Aside from going as far 
as possible to eliminate waste of 
food in general by consumers (a 
matter exceedingly difficult to cope 
with), official policy might advis- 
ably be directed more than it is at 
present toward future curtailment 
of civilian per capita consumption 
of certain classes of scarce foods. 
Two of the most important devel- 
opments that the war has brought 
are (a) a heavy reduction in live- 
stock count and output in Europe 
including the Soviet Union, and 
(b) the shutting off of exports of 
fats and fat-bearing materials from 
Oriental sources now under Japan- 
ese control. If we imagine the war 
in Europe ending in a few months, 
these two developments alone seem 
enough to warrant the conclusion 
that available world supplies of 
animal products and of fats and 
oils are bound to run decidedly 
short in relation to effective 
demands. Some other commodities 
may fall into the same category; 
but it suffices to consider these. 
Broadly, it may be said of the 
animal products and the fats and 
oils as groups of products, looking 
forward no more than sajr 15 
months, that any appreciable in- 
crease in the present volume of 
world exports must come from 
How many of our Allies will need milk from the United States when war ends? 
These children in London’s East End get drinks made from American dried milk. 
British Food Ministry 
35 reduced consumption in the export- 
ing countries. Neither the British 
nor the Russians receive moder- 
ately comfortable supplies of these 
items now, and the populations of 
Continental European countries 
receive hardly any. Everyone has 
heard of the extreme degree of fat 
shortage in Continental Europe. 
Our international obligations 
may reasonably be interpreted as 
involving effort to maintain or even 
increases our exports of animal 
products and fats to the British 
and the Russians, and also to in- 
augurate a flow to Continental 
countries when they become acces- 
sible. But we cannot provide for 
this increase by elevation of our 
production if we must trim live- 
stock count to fit feed supplies and 
if we have gone nearly as far as 
possible with oilseed production. 
Accordingly there exists something 
of an obligation to scrutinize our 
domestic consumption of animal 
products and fats and oils in order 
to go part way at least in meeting 
prospective demands from abroad. 
The American civilian public 
ought to be prepared now to face 
in the future a reduction in its per 
capita consumption of animal 
products and fats and oils. It 
ought to be prepared to accept this 
in good heart not because of dire 
necessity alone but in considerable 
part because of international obli- 
gations soundly incurred though 
vaguely stated. Opinions may well 
differ as to the degree of “sacri- 
fice”—if it must so be called—that 
the civilian public might reason- 
ably and successfully be asked to 
bear. Somewhere an upper limit 
of reasonable sacrifice exists. The 
opinion of the writer is that leaders 
might reasonably ask, and the civi- 
lian public might willingly accept, 
a degree of “sacrifice” extending at 
its maximum to a per capita con- 
sumption 15 per cent below the 
1935—39 level with respect to (a) 
the whole group of foods including 
meat, fish, poultry, and eggs (not 
necessarily each of the group), (b) 
milk measured as whole-milk equi- 
valent, and (c) lard and vegetable 
fats. 
Other foods, largely grain, could 
be expected to fill the gap in the 
total diet created by reduction of 
these. There is little reason to 
believe that the national nutritional 
status would be appreciably im- 
paired, at least if one assumes con- 
tinuation of consumer rationing 
and suppression of black markets. 
To ask for a significantly larger 
degree of sacrifice might be to 
jeopardize the chances of obtaining 
public support as well as to sub- 
ject the distributive system to 
undue strain. To ask for signi- 
ficantly less might be, in broad 
terms, to miss an opportunity to 
elevate the national status in in- 
ternational affairs. 
With respect to some readily 
perishable items in the list of 
animal products and fats, there 
would be no purpose in seeking now 
a reduction of civilian consump- 
tion. Either they do not now or 
they cannot now flow abroad 
beyond the current volume. But 
with respect to some storable items, 
especially canned and dried milk, 
vegetable oils and soap, and per- 
haps canned meats and dried eggs, 
stockpiling for future use abroad 
could probably proceed more effec- 
tively now if a general campaign 
should be launched to prepare the 
36 public for reduced consumption at 
a later date of the broad groups 
of food to which these items belong. 
No such campaign seems now in 
evidence. Although our food offi- 
cials may well be firmly convinced 
that enlargement of our exports of 
animal products and fats in the 
future is the right and proper 
course, they say little to spread the 
conviction abroad. 
Stockpiles 
People are said to talk about the 
weather a great deal but to do noth- 
ing about it. Accumulation of stock- 
piles of food ready to be drawn 
upon in large volume when hostili- 
ties cease in Europe seems likewise 
to be a subject that gives rise to 
more talk than action—though quite 
possibly those who know the sum 
total of all that has been done by 
the governmental agencies, includ- 
ing the armed forces, would find 
the parallel faulty. 
If our international food obliga- 
tions are real and if we intend to 
move promptly when the occasion 
arises, stockpiles of food seem essen- 
tial. Whether victory in Europe 
comes next June, next December, or 
a year from next June, the situation 
in Europe is likely to represent the 
sudden opening of a great market 
—larger, of course, if victory comes 
when the Nazi armies are far from 
their own borders, smaller if they 
are near or within them. The 
chances of Nazi collapse within the 
next three to ten months, while 
they still occupy vast territories 
not their own, seem good enough to 
warrant plans for the eventuality 
now. In the event of collapse, one 
of the principal features of the food 
situation would presumably be that 
in many regions of Continental 
Europe the normal flow of foo l 
from farm to cities would nearly 
dry up during a chaotic period of 
uncertainty about governments, 
currencies, and prices and exchange 
values of food against other com- 
modities, leaving urban popula- 
tions notably short of food. An- 
other principal feature would be 
that other regions like the Soviet 
Union, where order might be 
counted upon, would suddenly be 
opened to receive inshipments from 
overseas in a volume altogether 
impossible now. 
The desirability is obvious of 
sending a flood rather than a grow- 
ing trickle of food into both types 
of regions as soon as the military 
situation permits. This would be a 
major factor in stabilizing political 
and economic affairs; it would 
crush black markets otherwise 
probably inevitable, and in the end 
might even lessen the volume of 
importation. Without ample stock- 
piles available at the moment of 
victory, it is difficult to see how 
these desirable aims could be 
achieved. The question of juris- 
diction over stockpiles is sub- 
ordinate—whether Army, War 
Food Administration, Foreign 
Economic Administration, or 
UNRRA. What is important is the 
existence of stockpiles and the 
means of moving them promptly. 
Of what, then, ought the stock- 
piles to consist and how large ought 
they to be? The question of com- 
position is probably easier to 
answer than the question of size. 
First of all, notions of composing a 
stockpile of all the items that will 
37 British children in an air raid 
shelter munch sandwiches made 
of American canned meat 
eventually be sent ought not to be 
entertained; and notions of build- 
ing a stockpile as if it were a sort 
of magnified nutritionally-balanced 
daily ration for an individual ought 
not to be entertained. The major 
objective at the outset, in the crisis 
period, will be to satisfy hunger of 
many population groups; sub- 
ordinate to that will be improve- 
ment of the nutritional status of 
children particularly and of those 
requiring therapeutic treatment. 
No one can reasonably contemplate 
the storage in stockpiles of readily 
perishable items. 
The major components of stock- 
piles might well be wheat grain, 
corn grain, wheat flour, corn meal, 
dried beans and peas (including 
soybeans), vegetable oils and soap, 
and canned evaporated milk. The 
wheat flour and the corn meal, stor- 
able for relatively few months with- 
out undue loss, could first be 
accumulated and then sold out of 
stock and replaced with new 
acquisitions. Management would 
not be unduly complex if the will 
to accumulate and the finance exist, 
and the finance would seem to be 
available in the combined funds of 
Army, Lend-Lease, and UNRRA. 
In much smaller quantities sugar, 
dried milk, canned meat, vitamin C, 
and fish-liver oils might well be 
accumulated. The whole list of 
stockpiled commodities, without 
any others, would go far to relieve 
hunger, improve the health of 
young children, and afford thera- 
peutic treatment. To complicate 
the problem of stockpiles with more 
items may not be warranted. As 
events unfold during and after the 
crisis period, decisions about addi- 
38 tional items ought to be reached 
easily. 
The appropriate aggregate 
volume of stockpiles can hardly be 
considered intelligently in the 
absence of knowledge about the 
division of the burden of supply 
among the several exporting coun- 
tries. Only a rough approximation 
seems possible. The current volume 
of food-and-feed importation into 
the British Isles, Continental 
Europe, and the Soviet Union is 
possibly somewhat less than 15 mil- 
lion metric tons. It might rise to 
30 million or more in the first year 
after the shooting stops in Europe 
—an increase say of 15-20 million 
tons. One may guess that an 
accumulated stockpile equivalent to 
a couple of months of this addi- 
tional supply would serve the pur- 
poses adequately; and by no means 
all of the stockpile would need to 
be in the United States or to con- 
sist of United States produce. From 
the point of view of quantity the 
stockpile problem is not an essen- 
tially difficult one; the major diffi- 
culties seem to lie in arranging its 
location in various export areas and 
in achieving the essential co-opera- 
tion both between United States 
agencies and international agencies. 
In conclusion, it can be said with 
some degree of assurance that the 
United States has not been com- 
mitted to internatonal food 
obligations beyond our capacity to 
fulfill. The task can be accom- 
plished with good management, 
and with modification rather than 
drastic revision of domestic poli- 
cies toward food production and 
food consumption. Yet the hands 
of our food managers need to be 
strengthened by public acceptance 
of the desirability of prolonging 
their powers for a time into the 
postwar period, and by public 
acceptance of a degree of discom- 
fort in civilian food-consumption 
patterns. 
39 Soldiers in our army of food production, our farmers have produced the food that 
has made us the “best fed nation” 
1944 Food Problems 
PART II 
CONSOLIDATED REPORT 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION 
1944 
41 Meeting the Nation’s Wartime Nutrition 
Problem 
Roy F. Hendrickson 
Former Director of Food Distribution, War Food Administration 
We are entering our third 
year of war. We are en- 
tering it stronger than we 
ever have been before. In Novem- 
ber 1943, we made more than a 
thousand four-engined bombers. 
Other war production is in line— 
and that includes food production. 
It includes, particularly, nutrient 
production. 
Looking back over the past two 
years, we see that in none of the 
commonly measured food nutrients 
has our civilian food supply, per 
capita, gone below our pre-war 
level. In most of the nutrients, 
slight advances have been made— 
and in some of them, distinct 
advances. 
What do we see, then, when we 
look ahead? 
We can get the best view of the 
situation by examining the supply 
and requirements problems as 
these come to the U. S. Food Re- 
quirements and Allocations Com- 
mittee. The claimant for civilians 
is the Civilian Food Requirements 
Branch of the Food Distribution 
Administration. This Branch has 
examined and presented in some 
detail, commodity by commodity, 
the civilian food requirements for 
the current year. This outline is 
the result of a great deal of work 
on the part of its nutrition and 
commodity experts. It has weighed 
carefully just how much of each 
commodity civilians are going to 
need to maintain good health and 
high productive capacity. It must 
have strong arguments to present 
along side the arguments of other 
claimant members of the Commit- 
tee—representatives of the Army 
and Navy and those who represent 
our allies, our territories, and lib- 
erated areas. It must know, above 
all, what the chances are of getting 
the amount of any given commod- 
ity asked for. Two main factors 
are involved in the figures finally 
set on paper. 
First, there is the factor of pro- 
duction—in other words, what will 
the supply be? 
Our Food Supply 
We have had a good year in 1943 
—a better year than was hoped for 
—with a total food production 4 
or 5 per cent above production in 
1942, which was a record crop 
year. The greatest declines were 
in food grains, commercial truck 
crops, and fruit—it was a bad 
fruit year for everything except 
citrus. The great increases were in 
field vegetables, in such items as 
potatoes and dry beans and peas, 
and in poultry, eggs, and meat ani- 
mals. We were able, too—though 
we thought a year ago that it would 
be impossible—to come close to 
maintaining the high level of inilk 
production set by farmers in 1942. 
And although we increased our 
fluid milk consumption at the ex- 
pense of some of the dairy pro- 
43 Five per cent, increase in food production was due primarily to hard work of our 
farmers 
US DA photo by Ackerman 
ducts badly needed in the push for 
victory, the fact still remains that 
our total milk production, includ- 
ing manufactured products, was 
just a fraction of 1 per cent less 
than it was in 1942. 
We have our farmers to thank 
for these blessings. They made this 
record in the face of a late spring 
and despite the floods and 
droughts that hit some sections. 
They made it with machinery that 
is showing its age and under the 
handicaps of labor and feed short- 
ages. They already have assured 
a sizable part of our 1944 food 
supply. 
They have come through beauti- 
fully. They have given us more of 
the crops we asked for—the foods 
that carry the most food value per 
cubic foot of freight space, and the 
crops that have dnai war roles, like 
soybeans and peanuts. I am sure 
that we can depend on them to do 
their utmost to repeat the miracle 
again in 1944. As always, a lot 
will depend on the weather. A 
crop failure would be catastrophic, 
of course. Against this, we can 
only hope and pray. 
There are other elements in the 
production picture. Price ratios, 
for one thing. But the other main 
factor that we must consider in 
arriving at the allocation of food 
supplies among claimants is the 
factor of demand. 
44 Right now, we must make a fair 
estimate, on the basis of past 
experience, of the direct war 
demands on our food snpplv in 
1944. We can estimate pretty 
closely what our fighting forces and 
our allies will require. But now 
we must be prepared, too, for other 
war exigencies and even for peace 
exigencies. We must know what 
we are going to need if capitula- 
tion comes piecemeal or what will 
be required if Hitler collapses sud- 
denly and completely. 
We must think of these things at 
the same time that we are thinking 
of demand here at home—the un- 
precedented demand here at home, 
which has demonstrated the rapid 
rate at which food consumption 
climbs when pay rolls increase 
markedly. 
Let’s look back a bit. 
At the time that meat rationing 
went into effect, on the last day of 
March 1943, we were eating 14 
per cent more meat than the aver- 
age for the first quarters of 1935 
to 1939. In fact, we ate so much 
meat in the first quarter of this 
year that it looks as though—and 
this is drawing a conclusion from 
figures just being compiled—we 
ate 142.2 pounds of red meat apiece 
this year. That is 23 pounds per 
capita more than we would have 
had if consumption all year had 
been held to the ration level of 119 
pounds. It is 15.9 pounds, or 12% 
per cent, above our 1935 to 1939 
average. In addition to that, we 
ate 50 per cent more poultry than 
we did in 1935 to 1939. We have 
set a new egg eating high each year 
of the war. We are drinking 20 
per cent more milk than we did 
even in 1941, and 25 per cent more 
An Army mess sergeant tries his own 
cooking 
USDA photo by Forsythe 
than we did in 1935 to 1939. Before 
tiie rationing of canned fruits and 
vegetables, we were eating 23% 
per cent more of these than we 
averaged in 1935 to 1939. 
On the basis of such trends and 
their relation to increased income, 
we can estimate what 1944 demand 
for each commodity would be, if 
unhampered. I took 17 or 18 of 
these commodities, at random, some 
rationed items and some unra- 
tioned items, and I figured how 
much short of demand our food 
supply will be in 1944, even if we 
get the full quantities asked for 
civilians. The figure I got was 15 
per cent. 
So, obviously, we are going to 
have apparent shortages of some 
foods, in some places, at some times. 
The important question, then, is 
how will what we get compai-e, not 
with what we want, but with what 
we need. 
45 ESTIMATED CIVILIAN 
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION 
i6 The Civilian Food Requirements 
Branch has figured its asked-for 
quantities on that basis. It has 
used the National Research Coun- 
cil’s Chart of recommended dietary 
allowances as a yardstick and has 
gone, in most cases, well above 
those requirements. 
It has asked for definite per 
capita quantities, in pounds, of 
dozens of commodities to be made 
available, for each of us, definite 
quantities, in grams and milli- 
grams, of such nutrients as pro- 
teins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, 
thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. 
Looking at the figures, we see no 
sharp shifts in our diet. There is 
a general shift from foods expen- 
sive to produce, in terms of agricul- 
tural resources and manpower, to 
those less expensive. But the in- 
creases asked for are in foods that 
we have eaten more of this year— 
potatoes and sweet potatoes, dry 
beans, and cereals. 
Meat consumption during 1944 
will be held down to 132 pounds 
apiece, which is less than the 
143 pounds mentioned, but still 
it is nearly 4 per cent more 
than we averaged in 1935 to 1939. 
To supplement that 131 pounds of 
meat, we will have good supplies 
of other protein foods. AVe will 
have almost as much poultry meat 
as we’ve had this year and, we 
hope, about 20 per cent more fresh 
fish. We have big crops of dry 
beans and peas to start the new 
year with. Hen population prom- 
ises another 60-billion egg year. 
We had a good peanut crop and 
more peanuts than ever before are 
going into peanut butter and other 
edible uses. This year has seen the 
introduction, too, of soya flour and 
grits for household use and their 
increased use as a protein fortifier 
in such products as macaroni, pan- 
cake flour, and muffin mixes. There 
will be three or four times more 
soya flour and grits available for 
these purposes in 1944. 
We stand a good chance of hav- 
ing half again as much protein per 
capita as the National Research 
Council has set as a recommended 
allowance. 
Butter will continue to be in 
tight supply. A quarter of a pound 
a week apiece will remain our 
share. We will have a little less 
lard, less of other shortenings, and 
about the same amount of mar- 
garine, Three pounds less per 
capita of fats and oils than we had 
this year. But this will be more 
than made up by the fats we get 
from other asked for foods—pea- 
nut butter, for example. 
We went into 1944 with a sizable 
amount of our record-breaking 470- 
million-bushel Irish potato crop in 
storage. Demand has been strong, 
but we should have enough to carry 
us through to the new crop this 
time. We hope that even more 
potatoes will be planted and har- 
vested next year. We should like 
to have nearly 2% bushels for 
every man, woman, and child. We 
are asking for more wheat, more 
corn, more rice. 
Between the fats and the car- 
bohydrates asked for, our food 
energy prospect looks quite good. 
It is safely above the National 
Research Council’s average allow- 
ance for the civilian population and 
—through such measures as in- 
plant feeding, and differential 
rationing, if necessary—we are 
47 going to see to it that workers in 
heavy industry get all the calories 
they need to do a good job. 
Importance of Milk 
Milk is our one most important 
food. It adds proteins, fats, min- 
erals and vitamins to our diets. 
Nonfat milk solids are our one 
most important source of both cal- 
cium and riboflavin. 
The maintenance of high milk 
production and getting the milk 
channeled into its most effective 
forms add up to one of our great 
war problems. The chances of 
maintaining the production records 
of the past two years are slight. 
There are more dairy cows on 
farms than ever before in our his- 
tory, hut production per cow is 
down. That’s because we have 
record numbers of other livestock 
—poultry, hogs, beef cattle—com- 
peting for the high protein feeds 
needed to get high milk production. 
We will be doing well if our 1944 
supply is no more than a billion 
and a half quarts short of this 
year’s supply, or billion 
quarts as compared with 59 bil- 
lion quarts. 
More than a fourth of the milk 
truck and trailers now in use are 
more than 10 years old and deteri- 
orating rapidly. Replacements are 
badly needed and have been 
requested. 
After the problem of getting the 
milk to market, there comes the 
question of how it will be marketed. 
You can do many things with a 
XJSDA photo by Forsythe 
A 60-billion egg year is forecast for 1944, with poultry almost as prevalent as in 1943 
48 quart of milk. You can drink it, 
or you can make cheese out of it. 
You can make cheddar cheese, cot- 
tage cheese, processed cheese, or a 
cheese spread. You can evaporate 
or condense the quart of milk and 
put it in cans. You can make ice 
cream out of it. You can skim 
off the cream for the buttermakers, 
feed the rest of it to the pigs or 
send it to the drying plant. 
We have been drinking so many 
more of the quarts of milk pro- 
duced that production of two of 
the more important commodities 
for waging the war has suffered. 
Cheddar cheese and dried milk 
carry more balanced food value 
per cubic foot of shipping space 
than any other foods. They are 
badly needed abroad and measures 
have been taken to increase their 
production. Ration points on proc- 
essed cheeses have been raised to 
discourage their consumption and, 
therefore, send more milk into 
cheddar cheese production. We 
are trying to peg fluid milk con- 
sumption at the June 1943 level, 
through the dealer quota system. 
No dealer can handle more fluid 
milk for distribution to his cus- 
tomers than he did during that 
month. 
Increased consumption of fluid 
milk is a very fine thing, of course, 
from the standpoint of national 
welfare. We don’t want to dis- 
courage it. That is why the month 
Cheddar cheese carries more balanced food values per cubic foot of shipping space 
than any other food except dried milk. Sorely needed abroad, increased production of 
the cheese is scheduled, but U. S. civilians will get less cheese this year than last 
49 chosen as a base was one in which 
fluid milk consumption was at a 
high level, 25 per cent above the 
1935 to 1939 average. Consump- 
tion was increasing steadily, aver- 
aging 1 per cent gain each month. 
The peg was established as a war 
necessity. If it doesn’t work or 
isn’t stringent enough under de- 
creasing production, some other 
system of rationing will have to be 
devised, if war needs are to be 
met. We hope this won’t be neces- 
sary. 
But if it does work—if it does 
divert more nearly sufficient quan- 
tities of milk to cheese and drying 
plants—that doesn’t mean that 
civilians will have more cheese in 
1944 than they had this year. We 
will probably have about per 
cent less. 
Bread 
The Civilian Food Requirements 
Branch would like us to have three 
times as much dried milk as we had 
in 1943. It would be a fine thing 
if this request could be granted. 
It was hoped, earlier in the war, 
that a three-part milk solid enrich- 
ment of bread could be maintained 
—with six-part enrichment as a 
future goal. This would add valu- 
able proteins, and appreciable 
amounts of calcium and riboflavin 
to the diets of all our people, what- 
ever their incomes. It holds a 
bright after-the-war possibility. A 
six-part milk solid enrichment pro- 
gram would absorb all the dried 
milk production of the war- 
expanded milk drying industry. 
In the meantime, we do have a 
bread enrichment program. This 
program now in effect is compul- 
sory and the standard for enrich- 
ment has been raised. Each pound 
of white flour used in bread making 
by bakeries must carry 2 milli- 
grams of thiamine, 16 of niacin, 
13 of iron, and 1.2 milligrams of 
riboflavin. The old standard 
required for all breads using the 
word “enriched” was: 1.66 milli- 
grams of thiamine, 6 milligrams of 
niacin, 6 of iron, and 1.2 of ribo- 
flavin per pound. All, you see, 
have been increased except ribo- 
flavin, but bakers were unable to 
meet the old riboflavin standard 
because riboflavin wasn’t available 
in sufficient quantities. It is now. 
In fact, there is a good chance that 
we will be getting quantities of 
it from dried whey in 1944. Large 
quantities of whey, a by-product 
of cheese-making that is a very 
valuable food source, are still going 
down the drain. 
In appraising its stated require- 
ments, our analysts see a year in 
prospect in which, for the first 
time, our food supply may contain 
enough riboflavin—which helps to 
preserve hair and to keep skin clear 
and healthy—to reach the National 
Research Council’s recommended 
allowance. And that is after cook- 
ing losses have been deducted. 
In these requests for foods con- 
taining the necessary vitamins, the 
estimates have taken approximate 
cooking losses into account so as 
to give us a greater supply of each 
vitamin than we have been getting. 
Fruits and Vegetables 
In the first year of the war, our 
food supply made distinct gains in 
vitamin content. Most of the gains 
continued in 1943, but we did fall 
back almost to the 1935 to 1939 
50 average in vitamins A and C. The 
requests for 1944, then, pay par- 
ticular attention to the foods that 
are rich in these two nutrients at 
the same time that they strive to 
push our gains in the other 
vitamins still further. 
Still greater supplies of leafy 
green and yellow vegetables are 
asked to regain our vitamin A situ- 
ation, and push it to new heights. 
Butter is an excellent source of 
vitamin A, but that, as we have 
said, will continue to be in short 
supply. Well over 90 per cent of 
the margarine now on the market 
is fortified with vitamin A and 
plans are to make enough of this 
vitamin available to make possible 
complete enrichment. The in- 
creases in leafy green and yellow 
vegetables and in soybeans and 
potatoes, in addition to the cereal 
enrichment program, should give 
us a good margin of safety on iron, 
too. 
The civilian share of the orange 
crop coming to market is 10 per 
cent larger than it was in 1942. 
Big supplies of canned grapefruit 
juice have just been released from 
Government stocks to civilian out- 
lets, and point values have been 
reduced to zero to encourage con- 
sumption. We have a good grape- 
fruit crop and a record supply of 
lemons that will carry us well into 
1944. All these are rich sources of 
vitamin C. There is a lot of vitamin 
C in that record potato crop, too, 
and in all those jars of tomatoes 
on cellar shelves. The vitamin 0 
outlook is good and it can be still 
better, if farmers succeed in mak- 
ing further production increases 
next year in tomatoes and pota- 
toes, in leafy vegetables and in 
fruits. 
Increases are asked in beans, 
peas, peanuts and soybean products 
to help to hold our calcium gains 
and to improve the riboflavin con- 
tent of our diets. Our greatest 
nutritional gain, since the war 
began, has been in thiamine and a 
still further gain in this, as well as 
in niacin, will result from cereal 
enrichment, from increases in soyas 
and peanuts, and from substituting 
pork for part of the former supply 
of other meats. 
The civilian requirements for 
food, if met, will put us in a much 
better position in respect to all 
minerals and vitamins, commonly 
measured, than we have held in 
any year of the war or in any of 
the seven years preceding it. No 
wide margins of safety are pro- 
vided, however. And we may not 
get all that we want of the foods 
that we are asking for. On the 
other hand, there are some food 
possibilities that haven’t been 
taken into account in appraising 
the 1944 food supply. They were 
ignored because they do not enter 
into the allocations picture. How- 
ever, they give promise of a 
nutrient bank account that we may 
be able to draw on. 
Salvaging Vitamins 
Brewer’s yeast, in far too many 
cases, has been a sewage problem. 
It contains excellent proteins and 
is the richest known source of the 
B-complex vitamins. The industry 
has a program for recovering more 
of it for animal feed and for human 
food uses. Here again, equipment 
is a limiting factor. Dry equipment 
51 is needed, but still production is 
increasing and larger quantities of 
dried brewer’s yeast are being used 
in the foods that are being deve- 
loped for relief of liberated areas. 
Sodium glutamate is another 
protein food that was wasted in 
large quantities. It is being extrac- 
ted now from the residue that 
results when wheat is distilled for 
alcohol. It, too, is being used to 
give protein content and a chicken 
flavor to foods that are being 
developed for liberated areas. 
Potential chicken broth goes into 
the waste pile in factories where 
chickens are boned. Now more of 
this is being recovered. Experi- 
ments are being made in dehydrat- 
ing it and quick freezing it and one 
macaroni manufacturer is working 
on a new product—a chicken 
noodle. 
Guava is one of the richest 
sources of vitamin C. It has so 
much that it even retains an appre- 
ciable amount under dehydration. 
It wouldn’t take much space to ship 
it, and any jam and jelly could 
carry a percentage, dehydrated, of 
this pleasant smelling powder 
without changing the original fruit 
flavor. Such a program, if institu- 
ted, would be to the nutritional 
advantage of jam and jelly eaters. 
These are some of the new hori- 
zons that the war has opened for 
us. There may be still other undis- 
covered wastes that will add to our 
food value potential. There is one 
great waste, of course, that we all 
know about and that we are begin- 
ning to do something about. That 
is the physical and nutritional food 
waste that goes on in American 
homes. 
In many commodities we have 
Jikely reached our production limit. 
We likely have not reached the 
limits of outside demands on our 
food supplies. We are not only 
pledged, by promise, to seeing to 
it that food follows our victorious 
troops, but we also must see that it 
follows as a military necessity. It 
is cheaper in lives and manpower 
to win over those who have been 
enemies than to police them. We 
have held out the promise of food. 
It has helped to weaken resistance. 
The promise must be kept. 
So it behooves each one of us to 
help increase the food supply by 
not throwing any of it away. We 
contribute to the heavy losses in 
retail stores when we pinch fruits 
and vegetables and then toss them 
back. We overbuy. Too often 
refrigerators are packed so that 
some food gets in corners and is 
not found until it is too late to use. 
We throw out odds and ends that 
would make good left-over dishes. 
We indulge in these things and give 
little thought to the hidden waste 
that comes when foods are prepared 
and cooked in snch a way that 
many of their nutrients are either 
destroyed or escape. 
We may not be able to allocate 
to civilians all the food that has 
been asked for them for 1844. But 
chances are good that civilians 
will get enough of that tremendous 
aggregate to give families, who 
manage carefully, a better pros- 
pect than they have had in years, 
for getting a nutritionally satis- 
factory diet. 
52 The Problem of Extending Nutrition 
Education 
Dr. M. L. Wilson 
Chief, Nutrition Programs Branch, War Food Administration 
'TXT hat are . the 1944 nutri- 
V/V/ tional problems likely to 
* * be as I see them in my 
capacity as Chief of the Nutrition 
Programs Branch of the War Pood 
Administration? Obviously, a num- 
ber of significant questions may be 
posed in addressing oneself to a 
discussion of this subject. Will 
the basic problem be one of quan- 
titative shortage of foodstuffs? Is 
it likely to be one of mal-distribu- 
tion of an assured supply? How 
far will it be a problem of the dis- 
persal pattern of food purchasing 
power; or of specific arrangements 
to make essential foods available to 
low-income and under-privileged 
people? Will it be one or another 
of other problems related to supply 
or economic factors—or may it be 
more particularly one of proper 
utilization of available foods to best 
nutritional advantage? 
It is, of course, apparent that all 
of these matters will have an im- 
portant bearing on the nutritional 
status of the American people dur- 
ing the coming year. Each consti- 
tutes a distinct problem which will 
have to be met in the fullest pos- 
sible degree. Most of these ques- 
tions, however, are tangible prob- 
lems related to the physical food 
supply about which adjustments 
can be made to lessen their sever- 
ity. Such adjustments are con- 
stantly taking place through the 
facilities of the WFA, the opera- 
tion of the rationing system, and 
all of the national forces which 
have been built up to deal with 
emergency dislocations in the pro- 
duction and distribution of neces- 
sary foods. 
The full facilities of the Govern- 
ment are directed toward provid- 
ing an adequate supply of food 
sufficient to maintain the health 
of the country under wartime con- 
ditions. Estimates were made long 
ago for civilian needs for the coun- 
try during 1944 and production 
plans are well under way to meet 
these and other demands. Supple- 
mentary programs are being de- 
signed with regard to victory 
gardens and home canning of food. 
All of the tremendous resources of 
the American Nation are in mobili- 
zation to guarantee that we do not 
have any over-serious national 
shortage of foodstuffs which in 
itself would constitute a nutritional 
concern of first magnitude. Appar- 
ently at the present time there is 
every assurance that sufficient food 
will be available to meet the overall 
nutritional needs of the country 
based on essential dietary require- 
ments for maintaining health. This, 
of course, is barring unforeseen cir- 
cumstances such as a poor crop 
year, unfavorable weather condi- 
tions or any of the other unpredict- 
able factors that we must always 
face. 
These matters of physical supply 
are the specific subjects of other 
papers in this report. This paper, 
53 therefore, is addressed directly 
to another major consideration, 
namely, that a nationally adequate 
quantity of food may not, in itself, 
assure a nationally adequate nutri- 
tional status. It is essential in addi- 
tion that the available foods be 
properly used. 
The basic purpose of the nat- 
ional nutrition program over the 
past several years has been to 
assure a more adequate nutrition 
status for the American people 
and the work of the Nutrition Pro- 
grams Branch is continuing speci- 
fically toward this end. During 
the past few years it has been in- 
creasingly apparent that one of 
the most fundamental underlying 
problems in nutrition is that of 
getting the individual American 
to fully understand the signific- 
ance of good nutrition, what good 
nutrition means to him personally, 
and how each one can maintain a 
satisfactory nutritional status 
through the proper balancing of 
their diet from the available foods 
even under conditions of a 
restricted supply of certain 
commonly known and commonly 
used foods. This problem as well 
as being a major problem in 1944, 
is likely to be a continuing one for 
many years to come. 
The Immensity of the Problem 
It is overwhelming to consider 
the prodigious task of translating 
USDA photo by Forsytho 
Demonstrations by nutritionists are effective in translating theory into practice 
54 into actual “food habit” practice 
on the part of the 40 million fami- 
lies in the United States the knowl- 
edge of proper food values which 
the technologists and scientists in 
the nutrition field have been able 
to build up from their studies in 
the laboratory. To give point to 
the immensity of this problem it 
may be desirable to refer to the 
National Nutrition Conference held 
in 1941 and the circumstances 
which brought the conference into 
existence. This conference was one 
of the very few conferences of its 
kind ever called by a President of 
the United States, It came about 
after a great deal of study and 
preparation over a period of years 
by Federal agencies, physicians, 
scientists, and others who were 
recognizing the need to translate 
scientific nutrition knowledge into 
an applied science. The confer- 
ence itself was the transition point 
in freeing this technical knowledge 
and in directing it into popular 
understanding and use. Realizing 
how much actually was known in 
the laboratories about the science 
of nutrition and recognizing fur- 
ther that this knowledge was held 
largely by professional people and 
a relatively few advanced lay 
people, the conference developed 
an outstanding recommendation 
that, in addition to adjustments in 
the production and distribution of 
food, an intensive and coordinated 
program of nutrition education for 
the general public should be start- 
ed without further delay if we were 
to make any permanent substantial 
gain in the national nutritional 
level. 
To illustrate more definitely the 
depth to which such a problem in 
lay education goes, an analogy may 
be drawn between a somewhat simi- 
lar circumstance in a different field 
50 years or so ago, which had tre- 
mendous implications for good or 
bad influence on the general health 
of the people. This parallel is in 
the field of sanitation. Popular 
knowledge of sanitation at that 
time was in about the same relative 
position as popular knowledge of 
nutrition is at the present time. We 
have much documentary evidence 
of the insanitary conditions that 
were widespread at this earlier 
time. Various epidemics due to 
filth and lack of sanitary facilities 
took tremendous health tolls. 
Gradually, however, people were 
informed of the consequence of 
the lack of adequate sanitation 
while at the same time facilities 
were being installed as rapidly as 
both resources and actual knowl- 
edge permitted. From this condi- 
tion of very limited understanding 
of the significance of sanitation in 
the past century, we have pro- 
gressed to the present widespread 
organization of sanitation facilities 
which now protects the health of 
the people over most of the coun- 
try. Also the majority of people 
are becoming aware of how import- 
ant it is for them personally to 
observe the practice of good sani- 
tation. 
Education is Leading Nutrition 
Problem 
There are thus definite prece- 
dents in the same general type of 
situation which warrant the state- 
ment that a most difficult nutri- 
tion problem in 1944 and one that 
is likely to remain so for, many 
years is how to impart popular 
55 Nutrition Conference, on the 
recommendation of the executive 
committee of the Land-Grant Col- 
leges, each state in the United 
States formed a state nutrition 
committee whose function was to 
correlate the activities of state 
agencies in attempting to further 
the knowledge and practice of good 
nutrition. Immediately following 
the conference, these committees 
aligned themselves with the Nutri- 
tion Division of the Office of 
Defense Health and AVelfare Serv- 
ices which had been created to fol- 
low up the interest and activities 
launched by the National Nutri- 
tion Conference. 
In the Nutrition Programs 
Branch, which is now heading up 
this work, direct contacts are main- 
tained with the state nutrition com- 
mittees and with other cooperat- 
ing groups to facilitate a truly 
nationally coordinated effort. The 
whole program is oriented around 
a central purpose to teach house- 
wives and individuals, themselves, 
how to utilize the available foods 
to best nutritional advantage as 
one means of maintaining health 
levels under wartime conditions. 
The organization may be quite ade- 
quately described as a loosely 
federated structure in which the 
Federal Government, the state and 
local agencies, and public and pri- 
vate groups and individuals all 
participate. 
Much effective work has already 
been accomplished at Federal and 
the state levels toward reaching 
these objectives. Similarly, a great 
deal has been done at the local 
level. This is a never-ending job 
and there is still great need to in- 
understanding as to what consti- 
tutes adequate nutrition and to 
persuade people to follow the rules 
of good nutritional practice. Dur- 
ing the years since the national 
nutrition conference a great deal 
of experience has been gained in 
trying to lay solid foundations for 
eventually surmounting this prob- 
lem. The premise was drawn that 
nutrition education for the layman 
was a subject which no one agency 
could possibly handle because 
nutrition is such a basic matter 
that inevitably a great number of 
agencies and individuals would 
have to participate. It was felt, 
therefore, that the program would 
need to be one of coordination and 
that the whole approach to hand- 
ling this problem would have to 
be an effort to obtain participation 
by all interested agencies in such 
a way that their joint efforts would 
represent a united attack on the 
whole national problem. 
This coordination procedure was 
inaugurated and is still in the 
process of being refined, intensified 
and built up to its full potentiali- 
ties. At the Federal level, in so 
far as Government efforts are con- 
cerned, there is a coordinating com- 
mittee which is composed of all the 
agencies of Federal Government 
interested in food and nutrition. 
Beyond that, there is a special 
planning group representing agen- 
cies who have field representatives 
working with their own particular 
groups at the State and local level. 
In addition, civic and welfare 
groups, labor and the food indus- 
tries all have cooperated exten- 
sively. 
Just previous to the National 
56 Housewives meet at home of a local leader to prepare low-cost meal 
USDA photo by Hunton 
tensify organization particularly 
in the local communities so that 
the skills of the persons who are 
the leaders in the food and nutri- 
tion field can be mobilized to inter- 
pret to the rest of the people in 
the community the things we all 
should know about nutrition. Look- 
ing into the number of persons who 
are available for this type of 
service in the local community, 
there are some thousands of home 
demonstration agents of the Exten- 
sion Service and home manage- 
ment supervisors of the Farm 
Security Administration. Simi- 
larly, there are a great number of 
home economics teachers in the 
public schools, county and local 
health officers as well as physicians, 
Red Cross nutrition leaders and 
many others interested in one way 
or another in the problems of nutri- 
tion who have associated them- 
selves with local activities. 
Making Leadership Effective 
There is thus no dearth of trained 
leaders, and given a certain food 
supply situation, the nutrition 
education problem of 1944 is how 
this leadership can be so utilized 
that the housewife can be fully 
aided in making the best nutri- 
tional adjustment to the war food 
situation in terms of shortages and 
dislocations of food supply. In the 
degree that this can be accom- 
plished no one will need to suffer 
the consequences of lack of knowl- 
edge of the simple basic nutrition 
principles. Therefore, it may he 
57 repeated again that apart from 
such nutrition problems as are im- 
plicit in food supply and economic 
considerations, the underlying job 
which still remains to be done is to 
intensify our efforts to teach people 
the elementary principles of good 
nutrition and to get them to 
observe these principles in actual 
practice. 
Referring again to the fact that 
this problem will be not only a 
problem in 1944 but a continuing 
one, it may be desirable to look 
somewhat to the longer range situa- 
tion. In this, the reports of the 
Hot Springs conference can be 
considered in some degree as a basis 
for future policy and objectives in 
the food and nutrition field. By 
a brief examination of these reports 
it is possible to see how signifi- 
cantly adequate nutrition has come 
to be regarded as an international 
concern. One of the important 
premises of the Hot Springs Con- 
ference was that nutritionally ade- 
quate diets should be the goal 
towards which world agricultural 
production and economics should 
point. This purpose inevitably in- 
volves a companion effort in nutri- 
tion education regardless of prog- 
ress and adjustments in world 
food production goals. People can 
be badly undernourished in the 
midst of plenty depending on food 
habits and customs which militate 
against an adequate diet. When 
current scientific knowledge of 
essential food values can be worked 
into a permanent system of food 
habits and customs, and a diet 
which is nutritionally adequate be- 
comes automatic around an agri- 
cultural economy directed toward 
supplying a nutritionally adequate 
volume of food supply, we will 
then be well on the way to the solu- 
tion of one of man’s oldest prob- 
lems. 
Four Basic Principles 
In summing up, it may be well to 
restate a few points which will need 
to be kept constantly in mind both 
for application during the rest of 
the war period and for permanent 
guidance. These are: 
1. We need to insure a univers- 
ally adequate diet that should be 
made as nearly automatic as pos- 
sible. Nutrition education has still 
a great job to do in eliminating the 
idea that observing a proper diet 
is an overly complex matter. 
2. We need to establish definite 
meal patterns, based upon what 
we now term the “Basic 7“ con- 
cept. The “Basic 7“ has been 
adopted as the popular interpre- 
tation of the scientific table of 
daily requirements of essential 
nutrients. 
3. The educational process must 
be designed for application in the 
local community. It cannot ignore 
certain fundamental factors relat- 
ing to the economic, the racial and 
social backgrounds of people. This 
is true in both war and peace. 
4. Every available channel 
should be utilized in national 
nutrition education programs. 
The ultimate objective of both 
the war and postwar nutrition edu- 
cational program is optimum nutri- 
tion for all families. This is still 
a long way off. Progress will be 
made, however, as nutrition educa- 
tion continues to shift from a 
laboratory science to an applied 
science. All our efforts need more 
and more to be directed toward 
this end. 
58 The 1944 Need for Public Education 
in Nutrition 
George R. Cowgill, Ph.D. 
Professor of Nutrition, Yale University 
jk ny statement of nutritional 
Zjk problems particularly im- 
Z JL portant for 1944 is necessar- 
ily conditioned by the fact that our 
Nation is at war and this war must 
be brought to a quick and success- 
ful conclusion. It is obvious, then, 
that problems of food production, 
storage, shipment, and best utiliza- 
tion of our resources must con- 
tinue to receive the greatest pos- 
sible attention. 
Numerous other problems are 
nevertheless important. They relate 
to the perfection of methods by 
which dietary deficiencies can more 
readily be detected, studies of the 
human requirements for specific 
dietary factors, the factors that in- 
fluence those requirement, the phy- 
siologic interrelationships of vari- 
ous factors such as, for example, 
members of the vitamin B complex, 
etc., and numerous other problems 
than can only be prosecuted on a 
long-range research basis, problems 
relating to longevity, ageing and 
genetics, to mention but three illus- 
trations. 
Research nutritionists, and others 
for that matter, no doubt deplore 
the effect of the war on their 
research activities. Shortages of 
materials and scientific personnel 
make it difficult for them to main- 
tain continued activity on many 
problems that classify as basic and 
fundamental in nature but not as 
of immediate interest in relation to 
the war effort. 
There is one line of activity in 
nutrition in addition to those per- 
taining to food production, pro- 
cessing, storage and shipment, that 
can be emphasized as important for 
1944, This is the need for con- 
tinued effort to educate the public 
concerning food and nutrition. 
Much has already been done in 
relation to this problem but there 
still remains much to be accom- 
plished. Consider for the moment 
what the results of any success at- 
tending this line of effort can mean 
in the over-all picture. At the 
present time numerous governmen- 
tal agencies have been established 
and given specific responsibilities 
for dealing with our food problems. 
In the public press and in con- 
versation with our neighbors we 
encounter criticisms of these agen- 
cies and complaints of this and that 
policy or action taken by them. It 
is doubtless to be expected that 
there should be differences of opin- 
ion as to specific measures to be 
taken by responsible parties faced 
with the necessity for action on a 
problem; and when many competi- 
tive interests are affected, such dif- 
ferences of opinion will no doubt 
be expressed with vigor. These are 
to be expected in a democracy. It 
does seem obvious, however, that 
the basic answer to this problem 
must be sought in education of the 
individual citizen regarding the 
problems being faced, and the 
rationale of the line of attack 
59 adopted by those faced with the 
responsibility of “getting some- 
thing done.” To the extent that 
every citizen is informed in these 
matters, we may expect more of the 
support that only comes from an 
enlightened public opinion. 
The large body of knowledge we 
now have concerning the science of 
nutrition has numerous applica- 
tions in the field of public health. 
It seems evident that the public 
health is promoted by everything a 
private citizen does in the interest 
of personal hygiene. To the extent 
that a person supplies in his every 
day eating habits the knowledge 
now available concerning the rela- 
tion of food to good health that 
person can affect the health of 
others in various subtle and unap- 
preciated ways, for poor health in 
an individual reduces his own effi- 
ciency, and places a load of some 
kind on members of his family or 
his community or both. Success in 
a program of public education con- 
cerning food and nutrition there- 
fore means a substantial contribu- 
tion to the improvement of public 
health. 
Food economists can easily prove 
to us that many of the features 
of our patterns of food consump- 
tion are uneconomic and could be 
changed to advantage. For example, 
viewing the matter strictly from 
the standpoint of the overall 
economic nutritional picture, it is 
more profitable to raise plants like 
the cereal grains and eat them 
directly than to raise them, feed 
them to an animal, and then eat 
the animal. There are grounds for 
believing that food habits represent 
in considerable measure adapta- 
tions to given situations of food 
supply. Polished white rice is 
a staple food for the masses in 
the Southern Orient and Japan 
because it is the most readily 
available cheap food. In Northern 
China wheat and millet are used. 
In our own Southern States corn 
is a staple food, and is so fixed a 
part of the dietary pattern that 
attempts to encourage greater use 
of other cereals containing rela- 
tively more niacin and therefore 
more valuable for the prevention of 
pellagra encounter great difficulty. 
Oatmeal is a staple cereal in Scot- 
land but is regarded by the Italian 
peasant as a food only fit for the 
feeding of livestock. The native 
Italian housewife is brought up to 
regard a liquid fat like olive oil as 
the proper fat to use in cooking; 
the idea that solid fat like lard can 
serve just as well is not readily 
accepted. Many other examples 
might be cited illustrating the 
point that food habits are stubborn 
matters to deal with and to change. 
It will doubtless be unnecessary for 
our people, as part of their adjust- 
ment to the war situation, to change 
their dietary habits to the extreme 
point of abolishing the use of 
animal tissues as food. It is reason- 
able, however, to believe that we 
will be forced to eat relatively more 
plant foods and less animal-tissue 
food for some time at least. 
It is now known that we have 
in this country substantial amounts 
of various valuable foods that are 
not now eaten by the American 
people in amounts that their nutri- 
tional values warrant. Common 
examples often cited are skim milk 
powder, cotton seed flour, peanut 
meal, soybean flour, cereal germs 
and dried yeast. Greater use of 
60 these loods would enable our people 
to save for use with the armed 
forces and the populations of post- 
war Europe other foods that are 
now widely used. 
How can we secure greater use of 
these lesser-known products? 
Any thorough discussion of this 
question would have to touch on 
numerous topics, some having to do 
with processing, marketing and 
economic problems, but it does 
seem evident that education of the 
public concerning them is at least 
one important factor. No matter 
how these new foods may be made 
available for use, their importance 
to the consumer in the overall food 
picture must be made evident. This 
brings us around once more to the 
importance of increasing our efforts 
to educate the average citizen con- 
cerning food and nutrition. These 
matters must somehow be brought 
to the attention of the housewife 
and others upon whom falls the 
responsibility for the selection of 
food to be eaten. If these foods 
cannot easily be eaten as such and 
therefore can best be used as parts 
of various recipes, the people who 
are to use them must learn this. 
The foregoing considerations 
make it evident that during 1944 
we should continue and even in- 
tensify our efforts to educate every- 
one concerning food and nutrition. 
This educational program should 
be prosecuted along several fronts, 
through the medium of the printed 
page, the spoken word, and group 
activities. 
Much has already been done 
through nutrition classes estab- 
lished by the Red Cross, industrial 
organizations and other agencies. 
It would be a good idea for nutri- 
tion committees in communities 
that have had such classes to make 
a survey to determine what house- 
wives have not already attended 
such classes. The results of such 
a survey should prove useful iu 
further planning of new classes to 
be established. In large industrial 
organizations joint committees of 
workers and management might 
make a similar survey of their 
employees and thus find possibili- 
ties for further educational work 
through the medium of small 
classes. In many communities 
special meetings addressed by 
prominent speakers have been held. 
I he chief value of such a meeting 
probably lies in its ability to arouse 
community interest. Unless this 
meeting is followed up, however, 
by the provision of small groups 
of the class-room sort, the interest 
is likely to wane and the value of 
the big meeting lost to that extent. 
The work of dealing with indivi- 
duals in classes may not be as excit- 
ing as attending a big meeting, but 
it is the work that is extremely 
important in the long run. It is 
necessary to get to the people as 
separate individuals the detailed 
information they need in order to 
meet their every day practical food 
problems. Certain Federal agen- 
cies have provided us with much 
that can be used to advantage here. 
For example, the practical classi- 
fication of foods into the “basic 
seven ’ ’ groups provides both a 
slogan and a picture; this picture 
ought to be in every home in the 
land. It is customary for many 
business firms to distribute 
calendars with interesting pictures 
of one kind or another. A calendar 
carrying the picture of the “basic 
61 National Wartime Nutrition Guide 
Toz some food 
from each group...every day! 
IN ADDITION TO THE BASIC 7... 
EAT AN/ OTHER FOODS YOU WANT 
This is the National Nutrition Target, designed by Government 
nutrition experts to help people plan well-balanced meals. The idea 
is to include something from each of the seven food groups in the 
menu every day, to hit the bullseye of good health. 
seven” foods and hung in the 
kitchen would be a means of 
reminding the housewife every day 
of the importance of properly 
selecting the foods to be served to 
her family. Perhaps business firms 
could be induced to finance and 
distribute such calendars in behalf 
of a state’s nutrition committee or 
related organization. 
62 The problem of properly feeding 
the industrial worker has been 
receiving much attention. The 
solution of this problem is to be 
found in part through the teaching 
of nutrition to the worker in the 
factory and even more particularly 
the wife in the home. Industrial 
organizations can do much to facili- 
tate this educational work. It seems 
evident that whether the worker 
gets food in the industrial plant 
or brings a lunch box, he does eat 
an appreciable amount of food in 
his home. Therefore education of 
the homemaker concerning the 
proper foods to put into the lunch 
box as well as to serve in the family 
circle is very important. In one 
highly industrialized state a survey 
showed that the majority of indus- 
trial units were small and the work- 
ers either brought their owfl lunch 
or ate at a neighborhood restau- 
rant ; the number of unusually 
large plants presenting special 
feeding problems was relatively 
small. Such being the case, the 
practical attack on the problem of 
feeding the industrial workers in 
that state would seem to be (a) to 
separate the large plants and 
attack their particular feeding 
problems each on an individual 
basis, and (b) to concentrate on a 
program of general education on 
a state and local basis. In this way 
the vast majority of the industrial 
workers would be most readily ap- 
proached and influenced in some 
degree. 
Students of nutrition are aware 
that food habits are very difficult 
to change in any short period. It 
has been estimated that it took 30 
years of educational effort in the 
Philippines to bring about a change 
in dietary habits sufficient to affect 
seriously the incidence of beri-beri. 
It is generally considered easier to 
teach new things to the developing 
younger generation than it is to 
change the habits of the elders. In 
view of this one might on first 
thought view as poor the prospects 
of good returns in a popular pro- 
gram aimed at the elders. Against 
this view, however, can be cited the 
great progress we have already 
made. Under the stress of fighting 
a war it has proven possible to get 
favorable results in a very short 
period of time. 
I do not believe we have 
exhausted the possibilities for suc- 
cess in this work that can result 
from use of the spoken word, the 
printed page, the poster, the mo- 
tion picture and group activities. 
It is my conviction that the vast 
majority of our citizens wish to do 
their part in this food situation, 
and when given the needed infor- 
mation and suggestions of what 
they can do, will respond and do 
their part. To the extent that they 
do, this program of popular educa- 
tion will favorably affect the work 
of all responsible governmental 
agencies in their efforts to solve 
their problems for the good of us 
all, promote the public health 
through the improvement of in- 
dividual health, and prepare us to 
do our share of the work in the 
difficult post-war days ahead. 
63 New York State's 1944 Nutritional 
Problems 
Dr. L. A. Maynard 
New York State Emergency Food Commission 
Basically, our nutrition problem 
has not changed during the past 
year, but it has become intensified 
and it has taken on some new 
aspects. 
As 1 view it, the overall nutri- 
tion problem of New York State 
is to see that its people get the 
kinds and quantities of food they 
need to keep them healthy and 
effective in their jobs. This is a 
simple statement of a problem with 
many ramifications. It is a prob- 
lem which is common to the coun- 
try as a whole, but which has more 
diverse aspects in New York State 
than in any area of similar size. 
With one-tenth of the country’s 
population, we have one-half of 
our people concentrated in a single 
city, and we also have sparsely 
populated rural areas. We have 
wide diversities as to occupation, 
which markedly affect nutritional 
needs. There are also wide varia- 
tions in food habits and customs 
which must be taken into account. 
No single dietary pattern will 
suffice. 
We have a good understanding 
of what people need for health in 
terms of calories, proteins, min- 
erals, and vitamins. But these 
nutrients must be translated into 
available foods. During this war, 
we have come to learn that the 
food supply is an integral part of 
the nutrition problem. We are 
experiencing shortages of some of 
the foods we especially prize, but 
the more important problem is con- 
cerned with possible shortages of 
foods we nutritionally need. Here 
is where production and distribu- 
tion questions enter. 
The Link Between Milk and 
Feed 
There can be no milk for New 
York City, for example, unless 
there is feed for dairy cows. This 
feed supply is now short, and the 
milk supply thus threatened be- 
cause dairymen can’t get grain, as 
formerly, from the Midwest where 
it is worth more for hog feeding. 
Thus, the corn-hog ratio presents 
a serious nutrition problem for 
New York City and the rest of our 
urban population. 
The point I am making by this 
illustration is that the meeting of 
nutrition needs necessarily involves 
the basic question of food supply 
and necessitates an understanding 
of the economics and other prob- 
lems of production and distribution 
which are involved. For the large 
urban populations of New York 
State, dependent entirely upon a 
constant flow of food from the out- 
side, frequently from distant areas, 
these considerations are of special 
importance. 
New York State is a large pro- 
ducer of food, both of .farm 
products which are consumed di- 
rectly, and also of processed foods. 
These various products are in turn 
64 largely consumed within the State. 
Mutual interests are thus involved. 
A consideration as to how both 
agriculture and the food indus- 
tries of the State can best serve 
the nutritional needs of its popula- 
tion to the mutual benefit of all 
concerned should be an important 
help in solving our overall nutri- 
tion problem. 
Checking Food Wastage 
It is evident that much could be 
accomplished in decreasing the 
wastes that now occur in getting 
our food supplies to market, to the 
kitchen, and on to the table. There 
are unnecessary losses all along the 
line. While studies would give us 
further useful information as to 
the causes and methods of preven- 
tion, much could be accomplished 
in decreasing these losses by an in- 
tensive program of public educa- 
tion, bas 3d upon facts now avail- 
able, as to what this wastage means 
and how it can be lessened. 
The wastage is not only in 
pounds of food, but in losses of 
specific nutrients which are par- 
ticularly susceptible to destruction 
in processing, marketing, storage, 
and in cooking. 
Assuming that we manage our 
food supplies wisely, there should 
be enough for all, but we cannot 
expect to ‘ ‘ eat as usual ” in a war 
emergency. Even if there is enough 
total food on the average, local and 
individual nutrition problems will 
increasingly arise because of short- 
ages of specific items, rationing, 
price situations, and other matters 
concerned with distribution. 
It is helpful to recognize that 
consumer demand is not identical 
with nutritional needs. We have a 
marked shortage of meat in terms 
of consumer demand, yet we have 
more for civilian use than we had 
in 1935—39. Certainly there is no 
nutritional basis for saying that 
we need more. Rather, we could 
get along with less. On the. other 
hand, long-standing food habits 
and preferences must be taken into 
account in providing a food supply 
which will be acceptable. If food 
is seriously disliked, no matter how 
nutritious, morale and work effi- 
ciency suffer and consumption may 
fall below the needs of health. 
In the present situation it is 
essential that people be told why 
they cannot expect to eat as usual 
and how they can make the best 
use, nutritional and otherwise, of 
the food supply available. They 
must eat more of some foods and 
less of others. 
I should like to emphasize that 
we do not eat “averages,” and 
when a housewife wants to know 
how she is to get food tomorrow, it 
does not suffice to quote figures 
that we were better fed in 1939 and 
1940, “on the average.” That does 
not help her feed her family. 
More Nutrition Knowledge 
Needed 
The achievement of good nutri- 
tion in times of shortages of speci- 
fic preferred foods as well as with a 
changing food supply in general 
calls for more nutrition knowledge 
than usual. Thus, nutrition edu- 
cation which reaches everyone and 
which explains, in the simplest and 
most practical terms, the why and 
how of the present situation, is par- 
ticularly needed to help solve our 
65 current nutrition problems. People 
will accept food changes much more 
readily if they are made to under- 
stand fully why sending food 
abroad to people in re-occupied 
countries will help end the war 
more quickly, and thus that this 
food serves more than a humani- 
tarian purpose. 
It was my privilege to spend six 
weeks in England this summer as 
a member of a joint commission 
studying food problems. There in 
England they have succeeded in 
doing a better job than we have, 
with a smaller food supply and a 
much less palatable diet; and the 
reason for their success comes down 
to a matter of public understand- 
ing, of a willingness to do things 
in the interests of getting on with 
the war. Thus I think that educa- 
tion is going to be one of the main 
features in accomplishing a nutri- 
tional program to develop the kind 
of a public consciousness which is 
needed to get the essential things 
done. 
In view of the changing food 
supply situation it is particularly 
important that up-to-the-minute 
information be available on pros- 
pective food supplies throughout 
the State, particularly in the larger 
cities. By regular use of the press 
and the radio, housewives should 
be told what is available and what 
is likely to be scarce. They need 
this information so they can plan 
accordingly. 
New Food Products Needed 
Broadly speaking, the job we 
face as a nation is to use our food 
supplies and food resources most 
effectively. Among other things, 
this means developing new food 
products which will prove palat- 
able as well as nutritious, from sup- 
plies which are not now being 
effectively utilized, to replace foods 
which are short. The progress 
which has been made in bringing 
soybean products and brewers’ 
yeast into human u&e is an example 
of a development which requires 
further emphasis to help solve our 
nutrition problems. 
A shortage of butter tends to 
result in a lowered bread consump- 
tion, but bread as now enriched 
is a very nutritious food and we 
should eat more of it particularly 
since we have lots of wheat. Thus, 
the development of palatable and 
nutritious spreads which will result 
in increased bread consumption 
despite the shortage of butter is 
another means of making better use 
of our food resources. 
An essential for the most effec- 
tive use of our food resources is 
to anticipate the problems which 
will arise from the prospective sup- 
ply situation and to plan nutrition 
programs in advance accordingly. 
Here substitute foods, new food 
products, and new methods of pre- 
paring food for the table are all 
involved. 
The problem of the nutrition of 
industrial workers needs much 
more attention than it has thus far 
received. Studies in war indus- 
tries throughout the country dur- 
ing the past year have clearly 
demonstrated that inadequate faci- 
lities for feeding the workers, and 
a failure on the part of both man- 
agement and the workers them- 
selves to recognize the importance 
of adequate nutrition, have been 
66 important causes of absenteeism, 
lowered working efficiency, and 
lowered morale. In New York 
State this general problem, which 
was stressed in a report of your 
Committee last year,1 needs con- 
tinued and more active attention. 
It is evident that the solution must 
come through better facilities for 
feeding workers in plants, through 
better prepared meals in these 
plants, and through better lunches 
for those who take food from home. 
The problem cannot be met by feed- 
ing vitamin pills. 
It is clearly recognized that mal- 
nutrition is most prevalent among 
the low-income groups. This fact 
calls for all possible economies in 
the production and distribution of 
food. Much more can be accom- 
plished here. At the same time, 
there should be a full public under- 
standing of essential production 
and distribution costs and of what 
food is really worth in terms of 
health and well-being. Many 
family budgets are spent in part 
for items which should be dis- 
pensed with until the food essen- 
tial for health and working effi- 
ciency has been purchased. This 
situation must be corrected pri- 
marily by nutrition education. 
Lower prices of food will not solve 
the problem. Lower prices sim- 
ply will not do the job. 
You can’t breakfast like a bird and work like a horse 
r “The Nutrition Front,” Leg. Doc. 64, 1943 
67 More Information Needed 
We need more specific informa- 
tion as to the extent of our nutri- 
tion problem, particularly as it is 
affected by the changing conditions 
of the war emergency. Even though 
the food supply may be generally 
satisfactory, to what extent are 
individuals of our population fail- 
ing to get all they need? How are 
price policies, rationing, and black 
markets affecting the nutrition and 
health of our people? Just what is 
the nutritional status of our popu- 
lation anyway? 
It would seem highly desirable 
for the State to carry out short- 
time diet and health surveys of 
segments of its population to learn 
what specific situations particu- 
larly need attention and to test the 
effectiveness of nutritional pro- 
grams in general and of specific 
remedial measures. Such surveys 
are frankly expensive, but so is ill 
health, and so are all the measures 
which we undertake to combat its 
nutritional causes. The gathering 
of information which will make 
nutrition programs more effective 
and which will lessen ill health will 
also lessen the State’s financial 
burden in caring for its citizens. 
The overall nutrition problem is 
more than a health problem, and it 
is more than recommending a diet 
which contains the needed amounts 
of proteins, minerals and vitamins. 
It is a problem of food supply and 
of food economics in which pro- 
duction, distribution, consumer 
acceptance, and many other factors 
are concerned. The solution of the 
problem in New York State 
requires the cooperative action of 
various technically trained people 
and of various State agencies, oper- 
ating through an integrated pro- 
gram which takes account of all 
the factors involved. 
68 Challenging Our Food Policies 
Donald Montgomery 
Consumers Council, United Automobile-Aircraft-Agricultural Implement Workers 
of America (UAW-CIO) 
The outlook for the food sup- 
ply of 1944 depends prim- 
arily on when, if ever, the 
Government will initiate and carry 
through a conversion of agricul- 
ture, of the agricultural industry, 
to wartime conditions and war 
needs. 
We know, first, the difficulty of 
getting an industry converted to 
war when it would rather go on 
with business as usual under peace- 
time conditions. 
Our Union, both by campaign- 
ing at Washington and through the 
press, forced the conversion of the 
automobile industry so that it 
would stop producing chromium- 
plated cars and would start build- 
ing tanks and guns that were 
needed for war. Our Union was 
primarily responsible for getting 
that done as soon as it wTas done. 
It was done too late. 
We also know what conversion 
means after the war. We are per- 
fectly well aware of the threat of 
reconversion and what it means to 
the security and stability of those 
who are in the employment of in- 
dustry. Already Ave see steel mills 
shutting down and men out of 
work. The men in our shops see 
that just around the corner. Never- 
theless, we Avere for cou\rersion and 
are for it, despite the difficulty of 
getting it, and despite the hazards 
entailed when the Avar comes to an 
end and the industry must be 
reconverted to peacetime condi- 
tions. 
Agriculture has not been con- 
verted to war. First, because the 
Government lias followed a policy 
throughout that is primarily aimed 
at high prices, and through the 
manipulation of prices and price 
relationships is trying to accom- 
plish the objectives it has in mind 
—using almost exclusively this in- 
strument of trying to induce 
changes in agriculture by raising 
prices. 
Second, because the fear of 
reconversion as stressed by the 
powerful groups in agriculture, 
especially the fear of reconversion 
and its effect on the market posi- 
tion of the big commercial farms. 
As a result, the Government has 
not hooked up to the food produc- 
tion line some million small and 
middle sized farms whose produc- 
tion could be increased tremend- 
ously, and who could have made a 
very substantial contribution to 
our total food supply. Also, it has 
not recruited, mobilized and moved 
farm labor from areas where farm 
labor was and still is in surplus to 
areas where farm labor is desper- 
ately short. 
It has not taken command of the 
supplies of feed and other things 
needed by farmers necessary to do 
the production job. It has not 
taken them and allocated them to 
the places where needed. It has 
69 not ordered the necessary change 
in farm practices. Always it has 
been concerned primarily with 
price. 
For some eight years in the 
Department of Agriculture, 1 
watched the Agricultural Adjust- 
ment Administration following 
exactly that same policy. One 
began to think that the purpose of 
agriculture was to produce prices. 
I used to hope that finally a non- 
violent revolution would occur, 
namely, that the Department of 
Agriculture would begin to look 
upon food as something to eat. 
That revolution did not occur dur- 
ing peacetime. Then we came to 
1939 and we thought now, at last, 
the Government will begin to look 
at food as actually something to 
eat. No, we were disappointed. 
The War Over Prices 
In April, 1941, the Government 
launched its Food for Freedom 
program, as it was called. Higher 
prices was the instrument used. 
Throughout this period of the early 
war, the Department of Agriculture 
was fighting the Office of Price 
Administration, trying to get high 
prices, while the Office of Price 
Administration was trying to get 
prices under control. The Presi- 
dent called a halt in September of 
1942 to this rise in farm prices, and 
asked Congress to enact a law. 
Congress did that, on October 2, 
1942. This statute, according to 
the press, did put a ceiling on farm 
prices. Actually, it was a joker 
because it was so full of exceptions 
it did not change the situation any. 
After that law was passed, the 
United States Department of Agri- 
culture, then called the War Food 
Administration, was still fighting 
against the President and the OP A. 
I sat in several meetings which 
were held for the purpose of try- 
ing to circumvent the ceilings 
already established by OP A. 
In the fall of 1942, the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture was planning 
its production goals for the year 
1943, its acreage goals. Those goals 
planned in the fall of 1942, a year 
after Pearl Harbor, were planned 
for restricted production. In the 
first place, they aimed at a reduced 
supply of feed grains. At normal 
yields, the acreage provided for 
feed grains would have brought a 
very much smaller supply than we 
had obtained a year before. Some- 
thing of an informal rebellion took 
place from Iowa and some relaxa- 
tion was made in the corn goal. 
However, the final goal called 
for a smaller supply of feed grains 
than we had before. The 1943 goal 
called for 30 or 40 million acres 
less in crops than was possible. 
On 1944 goals already announced, 
call for an increase of some 38 mil- 
lion acres in total of crop land. If 
it is possible in 1944, God knows it 
was possible in 1943. We applaud 
the action of the Department in 
raising its sights for 1944, but we 
forget that it deliberately held 
down its sights in 1943. 
So, as a result of short feed sup- 
plies, we are liquidating livestock, 
and milk production is threatened 
for a lack of feed and is already 
falling off below last year’s levels. 
Price raising is the only answer 
so far that the Government offers 
for meeting this drop in milk 
production. The farm doctors and 
70 the U. S. Government are propos- 
ing only that we lift the price ceil- 
ings on milk, if necessary, instead 
of taking control of the supplies 
of feed grains and feed concen- 
trates and seeing that they are 
moved into the deficit areas where 
milk producers must have them if 
they are to go on producing. The 
Government has recently again 
raised the ceiling on corn, and has 
raised the ceiling 20 cents a bushel 
on the feed Avheat which the dairy 
farmer desperately needs. 
The Threat to the Milk Supply 
Last year I attended a hearing 
in Detroit called to consider a 
threat to the milk supply of that 
city. It was not held by the War 
Food Administration, which should 
haAre held it. It Avas held by the 
Office of Price Administration. 
It Avas not a hearing to enforce 
ceilings on the high feed prices 
which feed dealers are charging 
the farmers. It was not a hearing 
to plan allocation of feeds. Again, 
as ahvays, it Avas a hearing- to con- 
sider whether we should raise a 
retail price in the hope that enough 
money would trickle back to the 
farmers to encourage them to 
produce more milk. 
Actually, of course, such a higher 
price, even if granted, will be a 
fraud on the farmers. Farmers 
confirmed the fact that if they in 
that area get more money and all 
other farmers do too, the net result 
is they will bid more against each 
other to get what feeds there are. 
The fact is that there is not enough 
feed in the feed deficit areas, and 
the only way it will get there is 
by Government requisition and 
allocation so that feed can be put 
into the hands of the farmers. 
The people of Detroit some time 
ago sent a delegation to the War 
Food Administration asking them 
to do just that. The officials there 
looked wise and promised to look 
into it; they promised to let us 
know. But so far no word had been 
received from the War Food 
Administration. 
Another example of this price 
manipulation, this patent medi- 
cine, policy of the War Food 
Administration—its only remedy 
for all agricultural ills,—affects 
skim milk. We have been feeding 
to livestock some 40 billion pounds 
of fluid skim milk a year, that is 
the skim milk out of about 50 bil- 
lion pounds of whole milk, out of 
a total production of over 100 
billion pounds. That skim milk is 
lost to human consumption. Skim 
milk, from a point of view of nutri- 
tion, is not only the most important 
part of milk for human nutrition; 
it is unquestionably the most im- 
portant single food that we have, 
because it supplies the calcium and 
the riboflaAnn, of which generally 
there is a serious deficit in our 
diets. 
Feeding skim milk to livestock 
had been the peacetime practice. 
Then comes Avar and what are avc 
going to do in war to saWage that 
precious milk to see that it goes 
into human consumption? Great 
Britain provided that no milk 
should be skimmed. It sees that all 
it produces is consumed in full, 
Avhole milk form. We have tried to 
persuade farmers to deliver whole 
milk instead of cream by changing 
slightly the price they get for whole 
71 or skimmed milk as compared with 
the price they get for butterfat. 
This method has salvaged only 3 
of the 40 billion pounds wasted. 
And the Department of Agricul- 
ture itself recently said it expects 
to salvage only a little more. Of 
course, they cannot do it merely 
with price manipulation. It could 
oidy be done with a very practical 
program, to help the farmers 
change their practice. It would 
need an increased supply of milk 
cans. It would need new routes 
set up so that the milk could be 
brought from these farms. It 
would need feed to replace the skim 
milk, and very likely it would 
require also some sort of a switch- 
over subsidy to make it work. 
We did not do that; we just 
manipulated the prices. And then, 
if you please, when we did put on 
milk quotas, the Food Administra- 
tion says that one of the purposes 
of the quota plan, the primary pur- 
pose of it, is to protect and con- 
tinue the production of butter. 
This means a continued loss of this 
skim milk. 
The Department of Agriculture 
states that there was an enormous 
increase in production in 1942, to 
the extent that approximately 
400,000 small farmers were aided 
by Farm Security Administration 
to step up their production. 
These farms have manpower and 
have land, both of which are under- 
employed because of lack of suffi- 
cient capital or equipment or ma- 
chinery to get out the output 
which they could do if they were 
properly equipped. Meanwhile, the 
war goes on and the potential 
production of a million small farms 
is being1 lost. Why are those small 
farms not being cut in on the pro- 
duction line? In my opinion it is 
because of the threat of the big 
farmers who determine the Govern- 
ment’s farm program. 
Farm Labor and Food 
Take also the farm labor situa- 
tion. Public Law No. 45 is the 
most abominable slave labor statute 
ever passed in this country, cer- 
tainly within the lifetime of any 
one of us. It provides how the 
Government may use its money to 
recruit, move or train farm labor 
from the surplus labor areas of the 
South to the deficit labor areas of 
the North. It says the Govern- 
ment cannot move any farm labor 
from any county without the writ- 
ten permission of the county agent. 
If you know anything about 
Southern agriculture, you know 
whom the county agent acts for. 
He acts for the Farm Bureau, the 
big land owners who want farm 
labor sitting around in that area, 
living like slaves and working prob- 
ably 90 days a year. The Dairy- 
men’s League, for example, needs 
that labor on New York dairy 
farms, but the League and the 
Farm Bureau do not want to break 
up that Southern combination. 
That law came up for renewal on 
December 31st, and according to 
the press, Mr. Jones, War Food 
Administrator, appeared and asked 
for its renewal. The press notice 
said nothing about his requesting 
the removal of the slave provision 
contained in that law. I doubt that 
he requested its removal. 
Now take the soap situation. The 
Fats and Oils Branch of the FDA 
72 early last summer was crying the 
blues on fats and oils supply. It 
curtailed allocation of fats to mar- 
garine from 180% to 167% of the 
base year use; and then it attempt- 
ed to put through an order that 
we would charge Russia for the 
fat in the high-fat soybean flour. 
Also it refused to approve a pro- 
gram for increased supply of pea- 
nuts to the human population in 
the form of peanut products. In- 
cidentally, they did not get away 
with that attempt to charge Russia 
with the fat in the soybean flour. 
That was not because either the 
Russians or the American public 
were in there protesting. But is so 
happened another division of the 
Food Administration was acting 
for the soy industry, and so that 
industry was in position to pre- 
vent the steal on their product. 
The November, 1943, issue of 
The National Food Situation, put 
out by the Bureau of Agricultural 
Economics of the U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, states: ‘ ‘ Total sup- 
plies of fats and oils for the 12 
months beginning October, 1943, 
may be about one billion pounds 
greater than a year earlier. Lard 
output this season may increase 
about 450 million pounds, and soy- 
bean and linseed oil production 
will increase substantially. An in- 
crease in imports also is expected. 
The supply of food fats for civilian 
consumption, however, probably 
will not rise from the present level, 
under rationing, of approximately 
44 pounds per capita annually. A 
large part of the increase in lard 
production is expected to be 
required for soap.” 
Next, a month or so later, the 
Fats and Oils Branch reversed its 
field and claimed we had a great 
surplus of fats and oils. On that 
claim it increased the allotment of 
fats and oils to the making of soap. 
That allotment had been 80 per 
cent of the base year; it was in- 
creased to 90 per cent for household 
soaps and 110 per cent for indus- 
trial soaps, an average of about 95 
per cent for soaps, while the allo- 
cation of fats and oils for food 
uses was held at 88 per cent. So 
that we are allocating fats and 
oils to the manufacturers of soap 
at a greater relative rate than we 
are giving them to food use. 
They did not want to see soap 
rationed. To avoid soap rationing 
they have increased the production 
of soaps by 19 per cent, producing 
them at a greater rate than before 
the war, and by doing that they 
have avoided rationing. 
Then they increased soap sales 
another 9 per cent, by degrading 
it, requiring that manufacturers 
should add resins to the soaps. 
This has been done in spite of 
the need for accumulating stock 
piles of fats and oils, a desperate 
need for the supply of Europe and 
also for our own needs a year from 
now, when the supply of fats and 
oils for domestic use will not be 
so prolific as it is now. That seems 
especially reprehensible when you 
realize that the rationing of soap 
would be one of the most useful 
instruments we could adopt, be- 
cause there is no commodity in the 
home which is wasted to such a 
very great degree as we waste 
soap. 
By rationing it, we would use 
up less of these precious fats and 
73 oils and keep just as clean as we 
do now. 
Salvaging Fats 
We have a nation-wide campaign 
to salvage fats. We have been 
getting about 90 million pounds 
of fats and oils per year from that 
campaign. Now there is a big 
hullabaloo to step on it and try to 
get it up to 250 million pounds. 
Let’s see. If we put soap back to 
the fats and oils figure of last 
September, we would then immedi- 
ately save 280 million pounds. We 
should get 280 million pounds right 
off by reversing that order to in- 
crease allocation of fats and oils to 
soap. 
Then there is one more thing we 
should do, or could do. When in 
April, 1941, the “Food for Free- 
dom” campaign started out, there 
was talk of an order to require 
slaughter houses to cut more 
severely than usual the fats and 
tallows from the carcasses before 
they left the slaughter house. That 
order is still kicking around in the 
War Food Administration, and it 
will still be kicking around when 
the war is over. 
The fact is that packers are sell- 
ing not less, but a great deal more, 
fat on the meat than normally. 
Figures released by the Depart- 
ment show that in this year, 1943, 
there will be sold—on pork—some 
700 billion pounds more than usual 
of the fat that comes to market 
attached to the pork. That fat is 
used by wholesalers and others to 
be made into sausage, and also is 
being left on the pork chops you 
buy, and when you buy that extra 
as pork chops, yon are paying about 
35 or 40 cents, though its fat value 
is about 16y2 cents. 
So here is another 6 or 7 hundred 
billion pounds of fat which could 
be salvaged. But packers prefer 
to sell it to you for 35 cents and 
buy it back at 4 cents. 
Now another important issue fac- 
ing American farmers is farm land 
prices. The Secretary of Agricul- 
ture on November 17, 1943, told 
the National Grange at its annual 
meeting in Grand Rapids, Michi- 
gan, as follows: 
“One of the very important 
aspects of the problem, is that relat- 
ing to farm land prices. There are 
some very definite indications that 
farm land prices are going up like 
they did during and after the last 
war. These recent increases are 
quite comparable to the increases 
that occurred in the same period of 
the last war. Do you know that 
during the last year, average values 
for the country as a whole, went up 
about 1 per cent a month—the 
highest rate on record except for 
the top of the World War I boom 
in 1919-1920. 
“I scarcely need to remind you 
what happened in agricultural 
communities where the World War 
T land boom was most pro- 
nounced.” 
What is going to happen to 
farmers is that the small farmers 
are going to lose their land and 
the landlord and insurance com- 
panies and the big farmers are go- 
ing to come out of the collapse 
holding a still larger proportion of 
the total agricultural productive 
capacity of this country. 
74 Conclusion 
The food supply for 1!)44 to 1!)46 
depends on conversion of this in- 
dustry to a real war basis, and that 
outlook is not bright. Every pros- 
pect is that price manipulation and 
high prices will continue-to be the 
dominant feature of our agricul- 
tural policy, and that we will not 
allocate the feed supplies and other 
materials and require such change 
of farming practice as is necessary 
really to get the stuff produced 
where it can be produced and when 
it is needed. 
As a result, we are going to con- 
tinue the over-all mismanagement 
of the food situation. There will 
certainly be enough food for onr 
country as a whole, though we will 
not have enough milk. We have 
never had enough milk. Low in- 
come families will continue to 
starve on their feet, as they always 
have starved. That condition will 
not be changed, except that many 
fixed income families are going to 
have to join their low-income col- 
leagues because of the rise in the 
cost of food. 
One of the tragic results of this 
mismanagement is that the Ameri- 
can public will not go along with 
our supplying the food which we 
should supply for the rehabilita- 
tion of liberated areas, and that is 
going to be, indeed, a very costly 
tragedy, because it is not neces- 
sary. If we were managing agri- 
culture in this country, if we had 
converted food production to the 
war industry and then managed its 
use, the American people would be 
more than willing to go along and 
be very happy indeed to supply a 
large share of their food to people 
across the ocean. But with the 
mismanaged conditions, it is going 
to be very easy for people who 
wish to make it a political issue to 
argue that we should keep our food 
at home and not play Santa Clans 
to the rest of the world. That is 
going to be a very unhappy result. 
75 Reexamining Our National Nutrition 
Program 
Robert S. Harris, Ph.D 
Assoc. Prof. Biochem. of Nutrition, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
It? 1941 the National Nutrition 
Campaign was launched under 
the slogan “Eat Nutritious 
Poods” and with the hearty sup- 
port of Government and private 
agencies and the food industry. 
There was some evidence that this 
well-organized educational cam- 
paign was producing improve- 
ments in the food habits of the 
people when this Nation entered 
the war. Since that time food 
shortages have seriously interfered 
with the program, for the milk, 
meat, butter and other foods which 
it advocated have been in short sup- 
ply. In 1943 the War Food Ad- 
ministration even appealed to the 
patriotism of the people in request- 
ing them not to consume as much 
milk as in the previous year, in 
spite of the fact that a 20 per cent 
increase in milk consumption was 
considered necessary to reach the 
nutrition goal. 
This is a propitious time to ex- 
amine the National Nutrition Pro- 
gram to make certain that it is 
based upon sound economic and 
nutrition principles, for nutrition 
will undoubtedly receive serious 
consideration in postwar planning. 
This program is based on the ad- 
vice1 that everyone eat daily a 
serving each of (1) two or more 
fruits, one citrus or tomato juice, 
(2) two or more vegetables, one 
green or yellow, (3) one or more 
servings of meat, poultry or fish, 
(4) one or more potatoes, (5) 
whole grain or enriched cereals or 
bread, (6) a pint of milk, and (7) 
one egg daily. These seven food 
categories have been called the 
“Basic Seven.” 
That the public is not following 
this rule was evident in a dietary 
survey conducted by our labora- 
tories2 in October, 1943. A study 
was made on 5,000 persons whose 
economic status and geographical 
location is representative of the 
Nation’s population. They were 
requested to fill in a questionnaire 
listing all the foods and liquids 
eaten on a specified day of the 
week. The 3,336 replies received 
were fairly evenly proportioned 
over the seven days of the week. It 
was found that only 41 per cent of 
the respondents measured up to the 
Basic Seven standards, in approxi- 
mate agreement with a similar sur- 
vey conducted by Gallup in Janu- 
ary, 1943. 
Our laboratories have conducted 
a study3 in which food was taken 
from the homes of people in two 
representative urban areas and 
analyzed for thiamine, riboflavin, 
niacin, ascorbic acid, iron and cal- 
cium content. A breakfast, lunch 
1 National Research Council, Reprint and Circular Series No. 115, Jan. 1943, 
2 Harris & Lockhart, in press. 
3 Lockhart and Harris, in press. 
76 and dinner was taken from each 
subject just as he was about to eat 
it, and collections were distributed 
through the days of the week. All 
foods eaten since the previous meal, 
all second helpings and all liquids, 
were included in each collection. 
The foods were frozen immediately 
in dry ice and rushed to the labora- 
tory for analysis. The results 
showed that only 7 per cent of the 
subjects consumed their full al- 
lowances4 and only 20 per cent 
consumed as much as four-fifths of 
their allowances of the nutrients 
measured. These two surveys aug- 
ment those already published5 and 
indicate that the national dietary 
falls far below established nutri- 
tional standards. 
It would be unfair to judge the 
success of the National Nutrition 
Program for the war intervened 
before it could demonstrate itself. 
Yet there is reason to question 
whether it can ever be completely 
successful. 
Dollars and Diet 
In 1936 a classic study was made 
by Federal groups in this country 
to assess the dietaries of a sample 
of the population.6 Among the 
many interesting findings of this 
survey was the conclusion that a 
per capita expenditure of $4 per 
week for food was necessary to buy 
a good dietary. Since the average 
family comprises 3.8 persons, this 
would require a yearly expenditure 
of at least $790 for food, or a total 
income of $2400. This calculation 
is conservative for it assumes that 
as much as 33 per cent of the total 
budget is spent for food, whereas 
in 1936 it was only 25 per cent and 
this proportion has slowly dimin- 
ished until in 1942 it was estimated 
at 22 per cent. 
Thus it appears that a family 
income of $2400 was necessary in 
1936. On the other hand less than 
20 per cent of the Nation’s families 
were receiving an aggregate income 
of as much as $2000.7 
It is true that these data were 
obtained during a period when this 
country was in the throes of eeo- 
nomic depression. The national 
income has since soared; so too 
have food costs. In January 1944, 
the War Food Administration pre- 
sented data to show that ‘‘the cur- 
rent average cost of the basic food 
allotment is approximately $646 a 
year for a family of four persons” 
and cited statistics indicating8 that 
the average family must liaA'e an 
income of $2350 a year. It would 
appear that the population is still 
failing to receive a necessary food 
income, for the W.F.A. advocates 
the distribution of food stamps to 
the lowest 20 per cent. Thus in the 
banner year of 1943 at least one- 
fifth of the population was still nu- 
tritionally “forgotten men.” 
Why is good nutrition so expen- 
sive that it is now beyond the 
pocketbook of a significant por- 
tion of the population? Is it really 
necessary that the lowest income 
4 National Research Council, Reprint and Circular Series, No. 115, Jan. 1943. 
s Bulletin of the National Research Council, Number 109, November. 1943. 
6 Stiebeling and Phipard, Circular No. 507, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, Jan. 1939. 
" “Consumer Incomes in the United States, their Distribution in 1935-36” National 
Resources Committee, U. S. Govt. Printing Office, 1938. 
s Boston Herald, Jan. 6, 1944. 
77 groups be assisted by food subsidy, 
stamp plans or outright cash bene- 
fits if they are to be well nour- 
ished? Are there not ways to 
avoid the degrading effects of nu- 
trition alms-giving? Are not the 
foods being advocated for a good 
dietary really luxury foods, the 
foods one would prefer if he could 
afford them but should not de- 
mand if he is poor? 
For centuries mankind has fed 
on dietaries composed mainly of 
staple foods (cereals, legumes, tub- 
ers, and root vegetables) that are 
relatively simple to produce, store 
and transport. They are inexpen- 
sive for they do not require refrig- 
erated cars and special processing, 
and do not easily spoil. In meeting 
the demands of civilization and 
urbanization, these foods have been 
refined and processed until they no 
longer supply sufficient nutrients 
to meet the needs of the people. As 
a result widespread malnourish- 
raent developed. 
Nutritionists became conscious 
of this problem less than a quarter 
century ago. It was found that a 
greater consumption of green and 
yellow vegetables, milk and fruits 
were useful in restoring to Ameri- 
can dietary the nutrients that had 
been removed or destroyed in the 
milling of white flour, the roasting 
and processing of cereals, and the 
canning and preservation of foods. 
This was the beginning of the 
“protective food” era. 
Enrichment Offers Solution 
During the last several years the 
synthesis of vitamins has devel- 
oped into a huge industry. Today 
these precious nutrients can be 
bought much more cheaply as crys- 
tals from the chemist than as food 
from the farmer. There will be 
many who, with some justice, will 
contend that natural foods are nu- 
tritionally superior to enriched 
processed foods. It is folly to hope 
that the people will soon be edu- 
cated to demand unprocessed 
foods. Palatability, not nutrition, 
governs the choice of foods. 
It is our belief that the enrich- 
ment of white flour, white bread, 
prepared cereals, refined fats and 
perhaps sugar enriched with vita- 
mins and minerals is the key to 
the final solution of this Nation’s 
nutrition problem. 
To illustrate the importance of 
staple foods let us take white bread 
and flour. In the milling of flour 
significant quantities of thiamine, 
riboflavin, niacin, iron, and other 
nutrients are removed. It has been 
suggested that these nutrients can 
be supplied by increasing the 
amounts of “protective” foods in 
the dietary, but Jolliffe has shown9 
that to replace only the thiamine 
lost to the average diet by the mill- 
ing of flour one must eat daily a 
combination of approximately 1 y2 
pounds of fruit, 1% pounds of po- 
tatoes, 2 pounds of other vegetables 
and 1 Ys quarts of milk in addition 
to the other foods now in the 
dietary. This is an expensive way 
to replace nutrients. Furthermore, 
the bulk of such a food addition is 
prohibitive to most adults. 
The nutrients of wheat may be 
restored to flour more expedi- 
p Jolliffe, Internat. Clin, h 46, 1938. 
78 tiously by enrichment with syn- 
thetic vitamins and with minerals 
at only a fraction of a cent daily. 
As a war measure the enrichment 
of bread with prescribed amounts 
of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and 
iron sufficient to bring these nutri- 
ents to whole wheat bread levels 
has been made mandatory. Wit- 
nesses testified10 that no deficiencies 
of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, cal- 
cium and iron would have been 
found in the dietaries of the people 
in 1986 had the bread and flour 
been enriched to the levels pro- 
posed by the Food and Drug Ad- 
ministration. While we have data 
to show that these calculations may 
not be correct, it is very evident 
that the addition of minerals, vita- 
mins and even amino acids to 
processed foods to raise them at 
least to the nutritional quality of 
unprocessed foods offers the eco- 
nomical and practical solution. 
After all, the “protective” foods 
are not rich in the vitamins in the 
B group (thiamine, riboflavin, nia- 
cin, etc.) the vitamins most com- 
monly lacking in the American 
dietary. 
We must not be arbitrary in 
designating what mankind must 
eat for well nourishment. Good nu- 
trition results from eating requi- 
site amounts of some three dozen 
nutrients and it does not matter 
whether these are furnished by 
milk or sesame seeds, oranges or 
chili. We should not predict cal- 
cium starvation to those who do not 
consume milk, for other foods can 
be found which will provide this 
mineral. We should not contend 
that one-third of the dietary pro- 
tein must be from animal sources, 
for it is possible to receive ample 
amounts of essential amino acids 
from vegetarian diets. We must 
not promise that only those who eat 
each of the ‘‘basic seven” food 
groups daily will be well fed, for 
often it is not true. Furthermore, 
it is not difficult to devise excellent 
dietaries which include only a few 
of seven food categories. 
Food Nutrition Need Not 
Be Costly 
Mexico has a nutrition problem 
much more serious than that of the 
United States, Our laboratories 
are making considerable progress 
in revealing the high nutrient con- 
tent of many of the Mexican foods 
and the amazingly high quality of 
some of them. Recently we have 
analyzed the few foods which com- 
prise the dietary of the Indians in 
the Mesquital valley. This area is 
arid and scarcely supports life, yet 
clinicians from the Rockefeller 
Foundation could find surprisingly 
little evidence of malnutrition 
among them. 
One of their foods, wmcfi re- 
sembles spinach when cooked, was 
shown to contain in one serving 
enough calcium, iron, vitamin A 
(as carotene) and ascorbic acid to 
meet the daily needs. It also con- 
tained significant amounts of other 
vitamins and minerals. A second 
food, a luscious cactus fruit which 
presumably serves to quench the 
thirst, was rich in ascorbic acid. 
Some seeds were excellent sources 
of calcium and manganese, and hot 
pepper was rich in carotene and 
10 Federal Register, 8, 7511, (June 5) 1943. 
79 ascorbic acid. Thus these Indians 
were able to achieve good nutrition 
by eating plants gleaned from a 
forbidding soil. Good nutrition can 
be cheap and can be attained in 
those areas least blessed by nature. 
We are of the opinion that the 
National Nutrition Program may 
be ill conceived because it advo- 
cates dietary too expensive for 20 
per cent to 50 per cent of this Na- 
tion’s families. It may eventually 
compel many millions to accept 
food subsidy if they are to be well 
nourished. It appears to us, how- 
ever, that good national nutrition 
can be achieved with a more 
humble and less expensive dietary. 
Staple foods, either natural, or 
processed and enriched, promise a 
simple and inexpensive solution to 
the malnutrition problem of this 
country. 
so 1944 Food Production Goals 
Chief, Agricultural Adjustment Agency 
N. E. Dodd 
A number of persons have ex- 
pressed concern about future 
supplies of food here in the 
United States. Some have periodi- 
cally raised the bogeyman of 
famine and starvation. They have 
predicted unbearable food short- 
ages, and have forecast a ruination 
of the Nation’s health. Such pre- 
dictions and forecasts are without 
a sound foundation. 
The facts are that American 
civilians are eating very well. 
There are fewer under-fed people 
in the United States today than 
probably any other time in our 
history. And everything indicates 
we will continue eating about as 
well during 1944 as we are eating 
now. Furthermore, the food we 
are eating is richer in essential 
nutrients than it was before the 
war. 
Despite all that has been said to 
the contrary—these are the facts: 
Sometimes the selection of foods is 
not as great as it used to be. And 
sometimes certain luxury foods are 
difficult to find. But doing with- 
out some of the frills and fancies 
is a long cry from famine and 
starvation. Our food situation is 
good and will continue to be good. 
And this is no accident. Our 
favorable food situation is the 
result of plans, preparation and 
actions of the past. 
81 1943 Output 
Despite wartime production diffi- 
culties, total food output this year 
is higher than it has ever been. 
1943 was the seventh consecutive 
year that farmers have broken all 
previous food production records. 
In 1937—seven years ago—total 
food production in the United 
States reached a new all-time high. 
And every year since it has gone 
up. Production during 1943 was 
5 per cent greater than the record 
crop of 1942—and 32 per cent 
greater than the average produc- 
tion from 1935 to 1939. 
I repeat—this production record 
was no accident. Production plans 
were made and executed. As a 
result we got huge production— 
and the biggest increases were on 
the crops that were needed most 
for the war. 
For example, last year’s crop of 
soybeans and flax was four times 
as big as the crop grown in the 
average year before the war. The 
peanut crop was two and a half 
times as big. And farmers pro- 
duced half again as much meat 
and eggs. I could cite a whole lot 
of similar figures. But that is 
enough to show that the largest in- 
creases have been in the products 
that are needed most. 
That production record will 
stand by itself. But, the record 
itself does not reveal the reasons 
behind it. 
Background 
A decade ago, in the early 30’s, 
American agriculture was bank- 
rupt, both the farmers and the 
land. Agriculture was bankrupt 
because of an extended period of 
low prices and attempting to main- 
tain income by increased produc- 
tion. This resulted in millions of 
acres of land becoming unproduc- 
tive because of overuse and poor 
care. 
With the beginning of the farm 
programs in the early 30’s agricul- 
ture began getting back on its feet. 
Farmers learned how to practice 
conservation farming. Dust bowls 
were reclaimed. Much erosion was 
stopped. The fertility of the land 
increased. And even more import- 
ant, farmers learned bow to bring 
about immediate increased yields 
by the use of conservation farming 
methods. Conservation farming 
has played an important role in 
bringing the productivity of the 
land to its present all-time high 
level. Largely as a result of con- 
servation work, per acre yields have 
averaged 20 per cent more during 
the past five years than during the 
previous 20 years, and on some 
crops the increase has been 
phenomenal. 
During this same period that 
farmers were building up their 
land, they had also stored away 
huge reserves in the Ever Normal 
Granary. Our granaries and ware- 
houses were bulging with such 
crops as wheat, corn and cotton. 
Farm production facilities were 
ready to go. Fences and buildings 
were in good repair. Farms were 
well equipped with good ma- 
chinery. 
Farmers all over the country 
this past winter, as they did in 
the previous winter, made their 
plans for next season’s production. 
They need to know a number of 
things before definite farm plans 
can be made. The most important 
item is national needs. 
82 The Food Situation 
These needs were determined by 
W.F.A. and will require the plant- 
ing of 380 million acres of crop 
land—16 million acres, more in 
1944 than was planted the past 
year. To attain these goals will be 
difficult—every acre will need to 
produce its maximum. 
This coming season will not be 
the last when top production is 
needed; we have got to keep the 
land in shape to keep up a high 
rate of production in the following 
years. 
Agricultural leaders were in a 
position to know what could be 
done with the production facilities 
available. Consequently the needs 
were taken to these people. The 
results of the discussions at these 
meetings assure us the production 
needs are attainable and within 
reason. 
Some adjustments in livestock 
production will be needed if total 
food production is to be kept in 
balance. We have a large supply 
of feed, but the numbers of live- 
stock are even larger. We need 
all the milk and eggs it is possible 
to raise. So, to make our feed sup- 
plies go around we will need to 
drop back a little on hogs, and 
market more beef cattle. In gen- 
eral terms those are the adjust- 
ments to be made for the country 
as a whole. Some of them will 
affect farm production here in New 
York State. For example, a reduc- 
tion of hog numbers in the Corn 
Belt will make more feed available 
for dairy and poultry production 
here in this part of the country. 
Another adjustment that will 
affect you directly is the reduction 
iii broilers. We are asking chicken 
producers to raise 15 to 20 per cent 
fewer broilers in 1944. That is to 
make more feed available for dairy 
herds and laying hens. 
There is one more fact 1 would 
like to point out in this business of 
adjustments. I will stick to the 
hog and broiler example. A year 
ago we asked producers to increase 
production on hogs and broilers. 
Now we are asking them to cut 
down their production. Some 
critics say, “What’s the matter? 
Can’t you make up your mind?” 
Of course we can make up our 
mind. Here are the facts. 
In 1942, we had abundant feed 
supplies, and we were a little short 
on meat so we asked farmers to 
raise more hogs and broilers. Now 
we need to cut down some on hogs 
and broilers and use the feed for 
milk cows and laying hens. That 
is what we mean when we talk 
about adjusting production. 
In November, 1943, State agri- 
cultural leaders set goals for 1944 
production in New York State. 1 
will not list all of those goals, but 
here are the major ones. About 
7!/2 billion pounds of milk. One 
hundred seventy-five million dozen 
eggs. Two hundred thirty-seven 
thousand acres of potatoes. One 
hundred and forty-two thousand 
acres of dry beans, and 260,000 
acres of vegetables—about half for 
canning and half for fresh use. 
That gives you an idea of the 
food production plans for 1944. In 
carrying out these plans, farmers 
will run into a number of produc- 
tion problems, problems on farm 
machinery, fertilizer, labor, price, 
livestock feed and so on. 
83 Problem Spots 
We are working on those, too. 
From some aspects the situation 
looks better than it did in 1943. 
Briefly, I will review those prob- 
lem spots individually. 
The farm machinery outlook has 
improved considerably. About 
twice as much machinery is being 
manufactured for 1944, as was 
made for 1943. But, there still will 
not be all the new machinery farm- 
ers would like to buy. Some items 
of farm machinery will still have to 
be rationed in 1944, but the list of 
items to be rationed is much small- 
er than last year. There is still a 
great need for keeping in repair all 
old machinery that can be used. 
This year there are no restrictions 
at all on the amount of repair parts 
that manufacturers can make. 
The fertilizer situation has also 
improved. There will be more 
fertilizer available next year. 
There will be 10 to 12 per cent 
more chemical fertilizer—that is. 
more nitrogen and phosphate, but 
a little less potash. 
AAre have also taken steps to see 
that farmers can get more lime- 
stone this year. Last year they 
spread about 19 million tons of 
limestone, under the AAA conser- 
vation program alone. In 1935, 
the year before the conservation 
program began, farmers spread 
only 3% million tons. 
The supply of packages and con- 
tainers will continue to be short 
for the months ahead. Transpor- 
tation will continue to be a major 
problem. Gas supplies are getting 
more limited, but I am sure that 
farmers will get the gas they need 
for essential purposes. Old trucks 
are wearing out much faster than 
USD A photo by Forsythe 
Twice as much farm machinery may be 
produced this year as in 1943 
they are being replaced by new 
trucks. Freight cars are also wear- 
ing out faster than they are being- 
replaced. 
Through the Extension Service 
we are working on the farm labor 
problems, too. Labor will be scarce 
again in 1944, but we do not expect 
it to present any unusual problems 
except in a few specific areas. The 
main difficulty Avill probably be to 
get the workers where they are 
needed when they are needed. As 
in 1943, farmers will have to rely 
in the peak harvesting periods on 
voluntary help from the towns and 
cities. 
Since prices always play an im- 
portant part in production we are 
proposing supports to get the 
necessary production of critically 
needed items. 
The dairy feed payment pro- 
gram announced for the last quar- 
ter of 1943 provides for supplemen- 
tal payments directly to dairy 
farmers. The rate of payment 
84 here in New York is 50 cents per 
100 pounds for whole milk and 
five cents per pound on butterfat. 
Livestock feed will continue to 
be one of the chief problems in this 
area. But the situation looks bet- 
ter now than it did six weeks ago. 
Due to a change in shipping condi- 
tions on the Great Lakes 20 million 
bushels more feed wheat than we 
had hoped for has been shipped 
into this area. 
In all during 1943, 200 million 
bushels of feed have been shipped 
into the Northeast over the Great 
Lakes. That compares with only 
118 million bushels shipped in over 
the Great Lakes in 1942. Of course, 
there has been less grain shipped in 
by rail. 
The situation on feed concen- 
trates is not as bad as it sometimes 
appears. We have a slightly small- 
er supply of concentrates per 
animal unit now than we had a 
year ago because we have such a 
high livestock population. 
New York dairymen are now 
feeding less concentrates than they 
did during the last two years, but 
they are still feeding more than 
they did before the war. 
In December 1943 very little 
corn moved into New York State 
and it is hard to tell just what the 
situation will be during the rest of 
the year. I can tell you this: there 
is enough feed in this area to take 
care of immediate needs, and the 
War Food Administration is doing 
everything in its power to get the 
essential feed into this area. 
In brief, that covers the trouble 
spots in 1944 farm production. We 
know these trouble spots are not 
going to be easy to get around. 
1944 Food Goals 
All in all, everything points to 
even greater food production in 
1944 than last year. The produc- 
tion goals set for 1944 by State 
farm leaders, if fully realized, will 
result in a total food output 38 to 
50 per cent above the prewar aver- 
age and 4 to 6 per cent above this 
year’s record output. 1 want to 
emphasize—these goals are based 
on normal yields—not on the above 
average yields of the last two years. 
The goals recommend some in- 
creases in total milk and egg out- 
put, a slight decrease in chickens 
and turkeys raised, and a sufficient 
volume of livestock slaughter to 
reduce the number of meat animals 
on farms from the record high 
point reached this year. Altogether 
the indicated slaughter of meat 
animals during 1944 would result 
in an 8 to 10 per cent increase in 
total meat supplies in 1944. The 
combined output of poultry, dairy 
and meat products under the goals 
would be 4 to 6 per cent larger than 
the all-time high reached last year 
and over 40 per cent above the 
prewar average. 
Food Allocation 
Now, as to the use of this huge 
food supply—several large groups 
of people are sharing it. We are 
sharing food with our Allies, but 
all too often civilian food shortages 
are blamed on the shipment of food 
abroad. The fact is, in 1941 our 
Allies got only 2 per cent of our 
total food supply. In 1942, the year 
Germany over-ran the Ukraine, 
about 6 per cent of our total food 
supply went to lend-lease. The 
85 OWI photo by Palmer 
Armed forces get 13 per cent, of our food supply, Allies get 12 per cent., and civilians 
75 per cent. 
past year, because of increasing 
Russian shortages and the need of 
liberated peoples in North Africa 
and Italy, we sent about 12 per 
cent of our food abroad. 
Our armed forces will get 13 
per cent of our total food supply, 
and 75 per cent is going for our 
own civilians. That 75 per cent 
we are setting aside for civilians 
equals more than 100 per cent of 
what civilians got in prewar years. 
Of course, it is impossible at this 
time to know just how large 
the military, 1 end-lease and war 
services needs for food will be in 
1944. I think we can assume that 
as we liberate more starving people 
from the heel of Nazi Germany, 
we will need to use some of our 
huge food supply to help feed them. 
And 1 am sure that every person in 
this room would insist that we do 
something to provide food for these 
starving peoples. We can do that 
and still have about the same 
amount of food for civilians pro- 
viding we get normal yields in 
1944. 
Conclusion 
Now in conclusion, here is a brief 
review. American people are eat- 
ing better than they did before the 
war, and there is every reason to 
believe that we will continue eating 
about that well in the future. 
Farmers have laid their plans to 
8G US. FOOD PRODUCTION IN TWO WARS 
WORLD WAR I 
100 % 
WHEAT 
RICE 
POTATOES 
MEAT 
MILK 
(adjusted for population growth) 
make 1944 another record year in 
food production. There will be 
about twice as much farm machin- 
ery this year as we had last year. 
More fertilizer will be available. 
Farmers will continue having 
transportation difficulties. But by 
tackling that problem locally, we 
think they can get the crops 
produced and marketed. 
The farm labor situation will 
again demand a lot of local volun- 
teer cooperation. We propose to 
continue price support to assure 
needed production of critical food 
items. The livestock feed supply 
will be limited, and there will be 
less feed per animal next year 
than there was this year. But, by 
proper management, we think we 
can make the feed supplies go 
around, 
1944 production is not going to 
be easy. 
The War Food Administration 
will not be able to handle all the 
problems from Washington. We 
will have to rely heavily on the 
farmer committeemen and other 
leaders in the states, counties and 
communities. We are going to 
count on city people to continue 
growing victory gardens and to 
continue helping with emergency 
farm work. 
There is no question about it. 
This will be a difficult year, but 
we are confident the farmers of 
the United States will again come 
through—and the American food 
situation will continue good. 
87 1944 Food Prospects and Problems 
Paul S. Willis 
President, Grocery Manufacturers’ Association 
The coming of war, in Decem- 
ber, 1941, threw into sharp 
relief the fact that while 
food is the Nation’s largest and 
most vital industry—it has long 
been a step-child in Washington. 
When the Nation mobilized for 
war, all of the fanfare and com- 
motion were about ships and guns 
and tanks. Food was either forgot- 
ten or taken for granted. People 
forgot that the swiftest, most dead- 
ly airplane ever designed is worth- 
less unless there is a keen, alert, 
healthy pilot to direct it. Food is 
the greatest munition of war be- 
cause it is the ammunition of men. 
But it is only recently that food 
lias been recognized as our No. 1 
offensive and defensive weapon. 
1 want to make it perfectly plain 
that I mean food was neglected only 
by the top men who devoted most 
of their time and energies to other 
things. There were in Washing- 
ton many people in key positions 
who had apparently been wait- 
ing for just such an opportunity to 
get control of food. These people 
were not fooled as to the importance 
of food. They knew that if they 
could control it, they would have 
an unrivaled chance to put into 
effect many of their pet theories 
and reforms. Long before Pearl 
Harbor, the food industry strongly 
advocated practical, sound price 
control measures, because industry 
leaders knew that with the inevita- 
ble shortages which would result 
from the war, prices would sky- 
rocket unless they were equitably 
controlled. The food industry was 
also the first to advocate rationing 
of short supplies as the democratic 
American way to see to it that 
everyone got a fair share of the 
available food. 
But the theorists were in the 
saddle, and as soon as Congress 
delegated power of price control 
and rationing to an administrative 
agency these people had a heyday. 
The industry was ignored in the 
drafting of its original rules and 
regulations. As long as possible 
industry leaders were kept from 
the councils of those who had life 
and death control over countless, 
productive businesses in the food 
field. 
The contribution the food indus- 
try has made in our march toward 
victory has been huge in spite of 
these handicaps. Almost over night 
the industry was called upon to 
multiply its tonnage. Similar de- 
mands were made upon many in- 
dustries. For example, the automo- 
bile industry, aviation, steel and 
many others were called upon to 
step up production to unprece- 
dented levels. But there were two 
great differences between the prob- 
lems of the food manufacturers and 
the manufacturers in other fields. 
While the food industry was shack- 
led with countless rules and regu- 
lations and while it was being seri- 
ously threatened by a whole new 
philosophy which might well have 
destroyed it—the manufacturers 
88 of machines and munitions were 
showered with favors, preferences 
and priorities. 
The second great difference is 
that while most industries were 
called upon to produce for war 
alone, the food industry was asked 
to deliver more and more foods to 
the civilians here at home, while at 
the same time it turned out enough 
food to make the biggest army in 
the history of America, the best fed 
army in the history of the world. 
In addition to the stifling rules 
and regulations, food manufactur- 
ers were deprived of the men, met- 
als and machinery with which to 
do the monumental job demanded 
of them. Fortunately American 
management was foresighted, for 
long ago it established research 
laboratories through which to solve 
its problems. 
There are over 600 research lab- 
oratories in the food industry, and 
the scientists who work in them, 
coupled their skill with the ingenu- 
ity and determination of manage- 
ment, and ways and means were 
found to meet the requirements. 
When tin was denied, substitutes 
were found. When these substi- 
tutes were denied, substitutes for 
substitutes were found. But the 
job has been done, and America 
is still the best fed nation in the 
world. 
Recently the people in top ad- 
ministrative positions in Washing- 
ton have begun to recognize the 
essentiality of food. There have 
been changes in personnel within 
the OPA and other Government 
agencies, which give the industry 
grounds for hope that perhaps 
some of the hampering restrictions 
of the past may be removed and 
the industry may again function 
smoothly at its maximum strength. 
It is possible now to appraise our 
prospects for the first six months 
of 1944 realistically. For seven 
years we have had better than aver- 
age growing weather. This past 
year began with a cold, wet spring 
and many were discouraged. But 
as the summer progressed crops 
ripened under very favorable con- 
ditions. The harvest set an over- 
all record. Thanks to the fact that 
the food manufacturing industry 
processes and preserves America’s 
huge food supply, therefore the 
country consumes the 1943 crop 
far into 1944, so that we can at this 
time foresee what our food supply 
is apt to be in the early part of 
next year. 
In general we will have enough 
to eat. This means that we can 
supply a wholesome, nutritious 
diet to every man, woman and child 
in America and, at the same time, 
meet our requirements for the 
armed forces and lend-lease. An 
enormous part of the credit for 
this great achievement belongs to 
the farmers of this country. They 
have patriotically and unselfishly 
worked from dawn till long after 
dark to produce the greatest crops 
in American history, in spite of 
manpower shortages and the lack 
of equipment. 
It is possible now to be fairly 
positive about some of the items 
which have been on the short list. 
For the next three months there 
will be a somewhat larger supply of 
meat than we enjoyed the early 
part of 1943. Beyond that it is 
probable that the meat shortage 
will be more severe than it has been 
at any time up until the present. 
89 Milk will continue to be scarce, 
but unless there are unforeseen dif- 
ficulties enough will be available 
for distribution to maintain a safe 
standard for health. The same ap- 
plies to fruits, jams and jellies. 
There will be enough sugar for 
civilian use. 
In any realistic outlook for the 
future three primary elements 
must be kept in mind. Food sup- 
plies, demand and prices. As 1 
have pointed out, we may have to 
go without some of the foods we 
are fondest of—but a careful 
housewife will nonetheless be able 
to give her family an adequate, 
well balanced diet. It should be 
borne in mind that food demand is 
not static. The national income 
has more than doubled since the 
outbreak of war. This means that 
there has been a tremendous in- 
crease in the demand for food be- 
cause the first thing that the house- 
wife does with increased income is 
to feed her family better than be- 
fore. It seems probable that re- 
gardless of our military and lend- 
lease commitments the demand for 
food will continue to increase at 
least until the end of the war. 
Looking ahead from the manufac- 
turer’s point of view we see many 
things we need more of and many 
things we need far less of. Among 
the most critical things we need 
more of are manpower, machinery 
and equipment and supplies. This 
industry has demonstrated that it 
can perform miracles of production 
even in the face of unreasonable re- 
strictions, but we could perform a 
far greater service to the Nation if 
we were given the essential tools of 
manpower and equipment to work 
with. The things that the industry 
will need less of are not as easy to 
define, but they are nonetheless 
real. First of all we need less regi- 
mentation, less interference and 
fewer contradictory and conflicting 
regulations. 
The Price Control Act from 
which the authority of OPA stems, 
expires in June of 1944. Its adher- 
ents are maneuvering now to per- 
petuate it. All those who have made 
a serious study of the present food 
situation should give careful con- 
sideration to their attitude toward 
continuing the present Price Con- 
trol Act. Now is the time to decide. 
In the light of the experiences I 
have just outlined to you, it seems 
evident that we should admit that 
the present Price Control Act is a 
faulty, inadequate law. It was 
drawn up without the advice of the 
hard-headed practical men of in- 
dustry and it has been adminis- 
tered largely and until recently by 
men who knew little, if anything, 
about business. 
For the production of the future 
food supply of the Nation, it is im- 
perative that the best minds in the 
food industry be called into con- 
sultation and that a new, sound, 
reasonable and realistic Price Con- 
trol Act be substituted for the ex- 
isting make-shift law. 
In the six months of 1944 we 
have a breathing space in which to 
work. It will not be easy, but 
America will get enough food. We 
have an opportunity, without ran- 
cor and bitterness to review the rec- 
ord of food control and to draft 
constructive legislation for the job 
that lies ahead. 
The first and most fundamental 
concept which should be embodied 
90 in the new Price Control Law is 
that the three basic elements— 
labor, raw materials, and selling 
prices—be brought into proper 
balance if we are to succeed in con- 
trolling prices. This phase of our 
economy is like a three-legged stool. 
If one leg is lengthened out of pro- 
portion to the others the whole 
thing is thrown out of balance and 
will tip over. In our future plan- 
ning, the mechanics and details can 
be worked out if we are honest 
enough, realistic enough and fear- 
less enough to approach the whole 
problem, instead of trying to at- 
tack bits and pieces of the prob- 
lem separately. 
For example, the food manufac- 
turing industry is opposed to the 
administration’s demand for con- 
sumer subsidies. This is another 
example of approaching only one 
part of the problem without at- 
tempting to do anything about the 
whole problem. 
The pressure for inflation which 
exists today is very much like a 
swiftly rising stream. In order to 
prevent a disastrous flood a dam is 
necessary, but no engineer would 
think of building a dam of three 
different heights. The dam must be 
equally strong and high clear 
across the span. The dam must be 
strong enough to not only hold 
food prices but also the wages paid 
to labor and the other elements 
which cause the pressure. 
The administration has proposed 
that the cost of living be held down 
by the payment of a flat rollback 
subsidy to processors or producers. 
There would be more persuasive ar- 
gument for limited subsidies of this 
kind, if the administration could 
show that it had tied in wages 
closely with the cost of living, and 
that the only alternative to such 
subsidies was in fact a general 
wage increase. But unfortunately 
nothing in the administration’s 
policies warrants such a claim. 
Between August, 1939, and 
August of 1943, according to the 
Government’s own statistics, the 
cost of living has increased 25 per 
cent, while average hourly earnings 
in manufacturing industries have 
increased 51 per cent and average 
weekly earnings have increased 7(5 
per cent. The War Labor Board 
has repeatedly broken its own Lit- 
tle Steel Formula; but even if it 
had not, the formula itself is so 
elastic and full of loopholes in its 
method of application as to allow 
all sorts of inflationary wage in- 
creases. 
Probably no single group in the 
country has as much at stake in the 
battle against inflation as the food 
industry. At the outbreak of this 
war, the men who head up the 
major food producing companies 
of America were acutely aware of 
the problems which lay ahead. 
These men knew that war would 
mean a rapid shift from an econ- 
omy of surpluses to an economy of 
shortages. They also knew that 
shortages would mean rising prices 
which in turn would lead to infla- 
tion unless sound practical meas- 
ures were adopted to check the 
tide. Long before America entered 
the war the food manufacturing 
industry called upon the Govern- 
ment to establish fair and work- 
able price controls. At the same 
time the industry advocated the 
rationing of scarce items so that 
everyone would get his fair share. 
The top executives in the food 
industry clearly remembered the 
91 JAN 15 TEB IS MAR IS APR IS MAY IS JUNE IS JULY IS AUC IS SEPT IS OCT «S 
'BASED ON CHANCES IN COST OT GOODS PURCHASED BY WAGE EARNERS AND LOWER - SALARIED WORKERS IN LARGE CITIES. 
INDEXES OF COST OF LIVING1 
IN LARGE CITIES, 1935 TO OCTOBER 1943 
INDEXES' (l935-39 = IDO) OF COST OF — 
record of price behavior in the last 
war, and they were determined that 
we should not be caught in the same 
trap in this war. When the bottom 
fell out from under the food mar- 
ket following the last war—the in- 
dustry suffered an inventory loss 
of 11 billion dollars. That is 
economic disaster on a grand scale. 
It is important to keep this record 
in mind because some misinformed 
people today would have you 
believe the food industry is trying 
to bring about higher prices in 
order to make higher profits. 
Nothing could be farther from 
92 TREND IN COST-OF-LIVING INDEX 
AVERAGE 1935-39 100 
US. 
N Y C 
BUFFALO 
93 the truth. A recent survey of the 
50 leading food companies in 
America shows that while their 
volume has increased 75 per cent 
since September 1939—their aver- 
age net profits have gone down 
from d1 cents on the dollar to 3 
cents. This is a sound, healthy 
condition. It would be ridiculous 
to call it profiteering. No—the 
food industry like everyone else in 
this country, fears and dreads in- 
flation—and we are as determined 
to prevent it as is the Government 
or any organized other group. 
Unfortunately, our present price 
control machinery is not adequate. 
I n many ways it is impractical and 
therefore ineffective. Ill-considered 
rules and regulations were hastily 
drawn up, after the elements which 
cause inflation had already started 
to get out of balance and out of 
control. 
Subsidies will not bring these 
elements back into balance. A far 
more thorough and effective 
method must be found, for price 
control will be with us for a long 
time. And we should now correct 
those things we know are wrong 
and put this important legislation 
on a sound, enduring basis. To try 
to prevent inflation by the use of 
subsidies is like trying to plug the 
leaks in a boat. As soon as you 
stop up one hole—water will pour 
in at another place. Subsidies are 
a temporary expedient not a real 
cure. Now is the time to face the 
whole problem fully and frankly 
and bring all of the elements into 
balance. 
There are several organized con- 
sumer groups in this country who 
are now vigorously promoting the 
A, B, C grade labeling of canned 
and packaged food products. The 
food industry’s best interests are 
closely identified with those of the 
consumer. If grade labeling were 
in fact the simple panacea for all 
of our labeling problems, which its 
proponents claim, the industry 
would adopt it at once. It is the 
wholehearted, sincere desire of the 
food manufacturing industry to 
put on its labels all of the accurate 
information consumers need or 
want in order to make an intelli- 
gent selection. 
But there is one great flaw in 
A, B, C grade labeling. It is not 
accurate—it is in fact misleading 
and, therefore, is not in the public 
interest. From the industry’s 
point of view, it is a sad fact that 
you can clearly advance the rea- 
sons for grade labeling in three 
minutes time. But in order to 
fully understand why grade label- 
ing is inaccurate and wrong for all 
concerned, you must have a 
thorough understanding of food 
processing and marketing and also 
its effect upon freedom of choice, 
and our American way of life. 
It is unnecessary to tell you 
gentlemen that we are about to 
enter an election year. Food has 
become a political subject and un- 
fortunately with some people it has 
become a political football. 
Recently we have heard reckless 
statements predicting that the 
prices of some basic foods would be 
doubled or even tripled within six 
months or a year unless Congress 
granted the administration’s 
demand for subsidies. Such state- 
ments are false and extremely 
dangerous. They lead directly to 
stampede buying and hoarding. 
America has enough food to meet 
94 INDEXES OF RETAIL FOOD COSTS 
56 IN LARGE CITIES COMBINED. 1913 TO OCTOBER 1943 
INDEXES BASED ON 51 CITIES COMBINED PRIOR TO MARCH 1943 
its needs if handled in an orderly 
way. We have had a record harvest 
and the food supply situation looks 
far better at the beginning of 1944 
than it did six months previously. 
Further evidence that there is no 
cause for alarm can be seen in the 
fact that the armed services 
recently released millions of cans 
of food for consumer use. In the 
face of these facts, to predict run- 
away prices is to destroy confidence 
and invite hoarding—one of the 
primary causes of inflation. 
95 1944 J/i/fc Prospects and Problems 
Fred H, Sexauer 
President, Dairymen’s League Association, Inc. 
There is too much talk of 
average conditions in discus- 
sions of food, and too little 
discussion of specific problems, and 
that particularly is true, so far as 
milk is concerned; and it is also 
true so far as the agricultural 
areas of the Northeast are con- 
cerned. 
May I illustrate: The average in- 
come of farmers in the United 
States has increased 100 per cent 
since 1938; but the average income 
of New York State farmers has 
only increased 58 per cent. 
The average income from live- 
stock has increased somewhat more 
than 100 per cent, but the aver- 
age income from dairying lias only 
increased about 65 per cent. That 
takes in both additional prices and 
additional production. 
Thus you see when you begin 
to apply specifics to this problem, 
they take on an entirely different 
complexion than when you dis- 
cussed the problem as a Avhole. 
Food is recognized as being very 
necessary to the war effort, but 
milk is recognized as being one of 
the most necessary of products in 
the war effort. The fact, however, 
96 is that milk has had the least at- 
tention, the production of milk has 
had the least attention of all com- 
modities, and milk production of 
the Northeast has had the least 
attention of all milk production 
problems. That is primarily be- 
cause we are close to consumers, 
and consumers heretofore have 
reacted against increased prices, 
and consequently, with that public 
sentiment against increased prices, 
there has been more pressure to 
keep prices down here, and that 
has resulted in the most difficult 
problems we face. 
Incidentally, many of the peo- 
ple in the Department of Agri- 
culture who advocated, and suc- 
cessfully advocated, policies which 
discouraged milk production, have 
not left the Department of Agri- 
culture, and are tied generally with 
labor organizations. 
I hope they do a better .iob for 
labor. 
The United States today is food 
and nutrition conscious, probably 
more so than at any other time 
in its history. That is what the 
war has done to us. It is a result 
of rationing and shortages of vari- 
ous foods. How many housewives 
knew, before Pearl Harbor, just 
how much butter, how many cans 
of fruit juices and vegetables, or 
how many pounds of meat they 
were feeding their families? But 
ask any housewife or mother today 
and she can give you a very 
accurate answer. 
Because of the great educational 
work that has been done in nutri- 
tion, when we think of adequate 
diets today, we are more likely to 
start with milk and the various 
products made from milk. Because 
of this work, it is more universally 
recognized that it is essential for 
our children to have all the milk 
they can drink. It is more univers- 
ally recognized that it is essential 
that we have enough milk and dairy 
products for our armed forces, and, 
if we are to do our best for the 
war effort, it is essential that there 
be enough milk and milk products 
for adults on the home front, who 
are exerting more and more energy 
to bring about the early comple- 
tion of the war. 
The importance of maintaining 
the supply of milk, however, does 
not seem to have been recognized 
in government circles because of 
the smoke screen of inflation con- 
troversy with which this problem 
has been continuously confused. 
Under the present program of in- 
flation control, milk production has 
been allowed to decrease danger- 
ously without the stimulus of 
higher prices, which would be the 
normal result of the present de- 
mand for milk. 
Milk Supplies in 1943 
Before considering the prospects 
for milk in 1944, let us look first 
at what has been happening to our 
milk supply. For the United 
States as a whole, milk production 
for the first 10 months of 1943 was 
approximately the same as for the 
first 10 months of 1942, in which 
year we had the highest produc- 
tion of milk ever attained in this 
country. This production fell off 
during the latter part of the year 
so that the full year’s production 
probably fell below that of last 
year. 
97 Consumption of fluid milk and 
cream in the United States during 
the first ten months of 1943 has 
been about 10 per cent larger than 
consumption of milk and cream in 
the same period of 1942. For the 
year as a whole, fluid consumption 
is probably averaged about 15 per 
cent above 1942. With the greatly 
increased fluid consumption and 
the lower production of milk, there 
has been less milk available for 
the manufacture of butter, cheese, 
condensed and evaporated milk and 
for powdered milk. 
In addition to this, the Govern- 
ment has purchased and stored 
large quantities of dairy products 
for our armed forces and for lend- 
lease shipments to our allies. This 
has left available for civilians such 
a small proportion of the dairy 
products manufactured that even 
with rationing these supplies have 
been consumed immediately upon 
their arrival at markets, and no 
reserve stocks have been built up 
for civilians. Now that milk sup- 
plies are in the period of low pro- 
duction, practically all of the milk 
produced is required to supply 
fluid markets. Hence the manu- 
facture of dairy products has been 
cut dangerously. Since no reserve 
stocks have been built up for civi- 
lians, ration values for butter, 
cheese and evaporated milk have 
been increased, and limits have 
been placed on the sale of fluid 
milk and cream. 
Conditions in this area are be- 
coming particularly serious. While 
the supply of milk for the coun- 
try as a whole has approximately 
equaled to date the supply of 1943, 
the supply of milk available for 
the New York market during the 
first 11 months of 1943 decreased 
approximately 7 per cent. The 
demand for fluid milk in the mar- 
ket increased 5 per cent. 
For the month of November, 
1943, the volume of milk in the 
New York pool was 15 per cent 
below the receipts for the same 
month in 1942. This decrease of 
15 per cent in pool receipts is a 
reflection of a three-way combina- 
tion of fewer plants in the pool, 
fewer pool producers, and a smaller 
average daily delivery from the 
remaining pool producers. In 
November, 1943, there were 16 
fewer plants shipping milk to New 
York than in November 1942. 
There were 3,500 fewer producers 
delivering milk to the New York 
pool and there was a decrease of 21 
pounds per dairy in the average 
daily deliveries of milk. Of the 
3,500 producers delivering to plants 
shipping milk to New York, 1,200 
of the decrease was accounted for 
by the withdrawal of the 16 plants, 
leaving 2,300 fewer producers 
delivering to plants shipping to 
New York. 
In Buffalo, New York, there was 
a slight increase of 1.8 per cent in 
the supply of milk for that market 
in the first 10 months of 1943, but 
an increase in the demand for fluid 
milk and cream of 15 per cent. In 
Rochester, the supply increased 4 
per cent, while consumption in- 
creased 16 per cent. The spread 
between the increase in the demand 
and the increase in the supply has 
been even larger in smaller markets 
within the State. Under the State 
orders in Buffalo and Rochester, 
milk prices have been nearer the 
cost of production than either 
under the New York order or in 
98 other markets in the State. The 
result has been a more adequate 
supply of milk. 
Increased Incomes 
There have been a number of 
factors responsible for the unprece- 
dented demand for milk. The first 
of these is the tremendous increase 
in incomes brought about by the 
higher business activity resulting 
from the war. The United States 
Department of Commerce reports 
that income payments to indivi- 
duals in the first 10 months of 1943 
were 18 per cent greater than they 
were in 1942. A great deal of 
these higher incomes are being 
spent for food. During the year 
1943, per capita consumption of 
all foods was about 5 per cent above 
the 1935-39 level, even with ration- 
ing. With more money to spend 
for food, more money is being spent 
for milk. 
Rationing 
With the rationing of meat and 
other food, more and more people 
have turned to milk to maintain 
the nutritional standards of their 
family diets. The estimated con- 
sumption of fluid milk in the 
United States in 1943 is 43 billion 
pounds. This is an increase in the 
average per capita consumption of 
milk of more than 7 per cent. 
Prices 
The increased consumption has 
not been due to the shortage of 
other foods alone, however. Price 
has been a factor. Milk prices have 
remained relatively stable, while 
prices for other foods have mount- 
ed, so that milk, which has always 
been one of the cheapest foods, has 
become an even greater bargain, 
N utrition conscious housewives 
have used milk to a greater extent 
to balance their costs budgets as 
well as to keep up their nutrition 
supply. The price of milk in New 
York is approximately today what 
it was two years ago. 
Demand for Powdered Milk 
The government is asking for 
more and more powdered milk with 
which to supply our armed forces 
and our allies. Powdered milk 
production in 1943 was almost 
double that of 1942. Combined 
military and lend-lease require- 
ments are expected to account for 
about 14 per cent of the total milk 
supply. 
Supply Factors 
The decrease in the supply of 
milk, particularly that in this area, 
has been caused by a number of 
factors. Many of these can be 
traced to the low prices received 
for milk. Others can be ascribed 
to Government controls over prices 
and supplies. All of these have 
worked together to decrease the 
supply of milk. 
Cow Numbers 
There was little or no change in 
the number of dairy cattle in New 
York State from January 1, 1942 to 
January 1, 1943, while the number 
of dairy cattle in the United States 
as a whole increased 4 per cent. 
Had the price of milk been suffi- 
cient and had other factors been 
recognized during 1942, 'herds 
would not have been sold or culled 
so closely. 
99 With the same number of dairy 
cattle in this section to produce 
milk, we have not been able to pro- 
duce as much milk because of a 
shortage of dairy feeds, and because 
of the poor quality of feed avail- 
able ; because of the increased cost 
of farm labor and the lack of such 
labor; because of the increase in 
other production costs; because of 
the lack of machinery parts and 
gasoline; and because of the restric- 
tions imposed by government. 
Feed Situation 
This area has in the past been 
dependent upon other sections of 
the country for a large part of its 
dairy and poultry feeds. Because 
of the ceiling placed on the price 
of corn, it has been more profitable 
for farmers in the Midwest to feed 
their corn to hogs and to sell the 
hogs, than to sell corn to dairy 
and poultry farmers as feed for 
their cows and poultry. This has 
brought about an enormous expan- 
sion in the number of hogs raised 
in the United States, and while we 
began the year 1943 with a record 
amount of feed on hand, the larger 
number of livestock and the heavier 
feeding rates have resulted in a 
national shortage of feed. This 
shortage has been felt in the East 
for many months now, particularly 
so, because such corn as is avail- 
able has been held in the Midwest 
for the hogs and because the late 
spring and summer drought in this 
area caused a poor crop of the 
grains that are normally grown 
in this section. 
Being unable to secure corn to 
feed to their cows, dairymen have 
had to resort to feeding substitute 
feeds such as wheat, oats and bar- 
ley. Since there have been, pre- 
vious to iast week, no ceiling prices 
on these grains, the cost of dairy 
ration has advanced materially. 
This, however, is probably prefer- 
able to having ceiling placed on 
them and not being able to get the 
grain at all. 
The feed available has not been 
as high in protein and fat content 
and other nutrients as it would 
have been had there been corn and 
corn products in the ration. This 
has meant, however, heavier feed- 
ing at higher cost to obtain the 
needed production. In cases where 
feed costs and other costs have be- 
come prohibitive, farmers have sold 
their herds and turned to defense 
work. 
Incidentally, under this policy 
we have had a 65 per cent increase 
in the number of hogs, a 35 per 
cent increase in the number of 
pigs, about 10 per cent increase 
in. the number of cattle in the 
United States, and this last year 
a slight decrease in the number of 
dairy cattle in this country. You 
can easily visualize what that 
means to local market supplies. 
Farm Labor Situation 
Another handicap under which 
the dairyman has worked in the 
past year or two has been the lack 
of hired help on the farm, the 
increased cost of this labor and the 
inefficiency of the help he has been 
able to obtain. The cost of labor 
accounts for approximately one- 
third of the cost of producing milk. 
Wage costs in New York State have 
advanced 21.5 per cent in the last 
year and are now double what they 
100 were before war started. Coupled 
with the higher cost has been the 
inexperience and inefficiency of the 
help that has remained. Thousands 
of young men were taken from the 
farms for the Army at the begin- 
ning of the war, and the attraction 
of higher wages and shorter hours 
in war industries has drained off 
thousands of others. Farmers have 
had to resort to using both older 
and inexperienced men on their 
farms, and drafting their wives 
and children to do the work form- 
erly done by hired men. 
In order to hold the men that 
were available, it has been neces- 
sary to increase farm wages to 
compete with much higher indus- 
trial wages. It was only last week 
that I had a letter from a member 
of our Association asking what 
would be the cost of producing 
milk at current feed prices if he 
had to pay 80 cents per hour for 
labor. 
A local war industry was offer- 
ing 80 cents per hour for inexperi- 
enced laborers and farmers in the 
territory were having to compete 
with this wage to secure farm labor. 
On the basis of a 10-hour day 
for farmers and farm hands, this 
amounted to $8 per day or $240 
per month. When we figure the 
cost of producing milk at this wage 
rate, or at anything near this wage 
rate, it was much higher than the 
farmer could afford to pay and con- 
tinue to produce milk at the prices 
now being received for milk. 
Draft boards are taking boys 
from 18 to 22 on the farm, and if 
the draft boards should continue 
under present policies to pull on 
those boys on the farm, we will 
have just further reductions in 
milk supplies. Somewhere we 
must make up our minds whether 
we want to eat or not. 
All Production Costs Up 
In addition to feed prices and 
farm wages, all other production 
costs have risen. These include 
current operating expenses, expen- 
ditures on buildings and machinery 
and taxes. 
Other handicaps preventing 
maximum production by farmers 
include the lack of machinery and 
machine parts, insufficient gaso- 
line for the operation of farm ma- 
chinery and for trips back and 
forth to town, restrictions on pro- 
duction and marketing imposed by 
government, questionnaires and 
red tape. 
Milk Moved to Ollier Markets 
The supply of milk in the New 
York Market has also been affected 
by the higher ceiling prices for 
milk in nearby markets. Over a 
period of years, a supply of milk 
has been built up in this milkshed 
with a surplus over the fluid sup- 
ply to protect consumers in the 
New York market. Now due to the 
disparity between prices, much of 
this milk that would normally be 
shipped into this market is being 
shipped to Boston, Philadelphia 
and Washington, and to urban 
markets in Connecticut. In addi- 
tion to the milk of the 16 plants 
that have been withdrawn from 
the pool within the last year to 
ship their milk elsewhere, ap- 
proximately 16 per cent of the milk 
delivered to the New York pool was 
shipped to outside markets in 
November. 
101 Prospects for 1944 
United States. In looking at the 
prospects for 1944, we must con- 
sider the national supply since both 
our fluid supply and our supply 
of dairy products is affected by 
the national supply. 
The United States Department 
of Agriculture has estimated that 
if fluid sales of milk for 1944 were 
not restricted, there would be a 
demand for more than 45 billion 
pounds of fluid milk and cream for 
1944, and that the milk equivalent 
of all dairy products needed will 
exceed 120 billion pounds. This 
is two billion pounds more than the 
estimated 1943 production. How- 
ever, since there will not be a suf- 
ficient supply of milk with which 
to meet this demand and the 
demands of our armed forces and 
lend-lease, fluid milk sales ‘are 
expected to be limited to 40.5 bil- 
lion pounds, and there will be a 
reduction in the production of all 
manufactured dairy products 
except powder. This is based on a 
goal of 122 billion pounds of milk 
for 1944. 
The suggested production can be 
obtained only if the number of cows 
is increased by 2 per cent above the 
average for the year 1943, and pro- 
duction per cow is increased 50 
pounds above the 1943 level. 
The number of cows and heifers 
now on farms makes the increase in 
cow population possible, if no 
greater culling of cows and heifers 
than is normal takes place. How- 
ever, to obtain an increase in 
production per cow, as well as an 
increase in cow population, a 
larger feed supply than was avail- 
able in 1943 will be required. In 
view of the prospective tight feed 
situation, and the competition from 
the large number of livestock on 
farms for this feed, the desired 
production will be difficult to 
obtain without providing more feed 
for dairy farmers and taking 
actions which will increase returns 
to producers. 
If production falls short of this 
goal, as it seems likely it will, or 
if requirements for dairy products 
for our armed forces have been 
underestimated* then we shall have 
to resort to further limitation of 
fluid milk and cream sales, and per- 
haps to rationing of fluid milk. It 
is reported that a plan for the 
rationing of milk has been worked 
out in Washington, but that offi- 
cials are reluctant to put rationing 
of milk into effect except as a 
last resort. 
In the New York area supply 
conditions will be serious. A long 
period of insufficient returns has 
brought about a decline in milk 
production which, unless halted, 
will endanger both our local and 
national supply of milk and milk 
products. 
It is estimated that the number 
of cows in the New York milk shed 
in 1944 will be approximately the 
same as there were last year. There 
will be fewer dairy farms, but the 
average number of cows in herds 
which remain will be larger. 
The number of dairymen going 
out of business, based on Dairy- 
men’s League records, is about 
twice what it was during the period 
1935-40. Unless there is a sub- 
stantial increase in the price of 
milk, it is not expected that this 
will change. The inability to obtain 
102 experienced and reliable farm 
labor, the high average age of pre- 
sent farm operators and alterna- 
tive jobs available to dairy farmers 
at considerably higher wages are 
the principal contributing factors. 
While the best cows from discon- 
tinued herds will be sold into other 
herds, lack of barn space and lack 
of feed will result in culling low 
producing cows. This will be offset 
by the large number of heifer 
calves coming into production for 
the first time. 
The average production per cow 
in New York herds on December 1 
of this year was approximately 4% 
per cent below production on 
December 1 of last year. The 
number of cows dry in herds was 
8 per cent above a year ago. This 
is believed to indicate that more 
dairy farmers are changing to 
spring and summer production 
when milk can be produced with 
cows getting a large part of their 
feed from pastures. 
In order to obtain maximum milk 
production in 1944, it will be neces- 
sary that we have not only enough 
feed, but also that this feed have 
sufficient nutritive value. All dairy- 
men are in agreement that the 
present dairy ration, containing 
about 15 per cent protein, does not 
produce the milk formerly obtained 
from 20 per cent dairy ration. 
This cannot be replaced with 
roughage, much of which is of poor 
quality this year. The real danger 
in the feed situation is not so much 
in the national shortage, as in the 
concentration of that shortage in 
feed-deficit areas. New York is a 
feed-deficit area. 
The profitability of feeding hogs 
has been reduced somewhat by the 
recent increase in the price of corn, 
but this increase was not sufficient 
to attract much corn into feed- 
deficit areas. With the restricted 
ability of dairymen to bid feed con- 
centrates away from other regions 
and other uses because of price con- 
trol, the result will probably be 
that high feeding levels will be con- 
tinued in the Midwest and there 
will be a shortage of feed in the 
East. Dairy rations in this section 
will .probably continue to have 
low protein and fat contents. 
Grain fed to cows in New York 
on December 1 was slightly below 
last year, though still much above 
the 1931-40 average. 
There is no indication that it 
will be above the 1942-43 level, 
which would be necessary to obtain 
a higher production per cow. 
With farm wages still less than 
75 per cent of industrial wages, 
which is approximately the histori- 
cal relationship between the two, 
the trend of farm wages is still 
upward. 
The Director of Economic Stabi- 
lization, Fred M. Vinson, issued au 
order last week allowing increases 
to farm workers earning less than 
$2,400 a year without formal ap- 
proval of stabilization authorities. 
This may enable dairy farmers to 
keep some workers who would have 
left otherwise, but it also advan- 
ces his cost of production. 
With the close of the war, it is 
expected that many workers on 
farms who have stayed due to draft 
deferment will leave for higher 
paying industrial jobs, making the 
present shortage more acute. 
Incidentally, very few farmers 
get that much. That was our exper- 
ience after the last war: our worst 
103 labor problems came after the war. 
On our farm where we normally 
have four men, last year he has 
been running it with a 14 year old 
son, a 17 year old son, and a 19 year 
old son part of the time, and when 
he didn’t have the 19 year old son 
he had a girl from New York City. 
However, you can imagine the kind 
of problems he faced. Incidentally, 
he gave notice he will leave next 
year. He may change his mind— 
we will try to change it for him, 
because otherwise we would have 
to go out of production. 
Milk Production in New York 
Stale to be Lower 
For these reasons, we have esti- 
mated that milk production in New 
York State will be lower in 1944 
than it was in 1943. We believe 
that by April 1, 1944 production 
may be down as much as 8 per cent 
if drastic steps are not taken to pre- 
vent it. This will have a far-reach- 
ing effect on the national situation. 
New York State ranks third in the 
United States in milk production, 
having produced approximately 
seven billion pounds of milk in 
1942. In addition to supplying 
fluid milk and cream for three of 
the largest cities in the United 
States and many smaller industrial 
centers within the State, it ranks 
nineteenth in the production of all 
dairy products. It ranks second in 
the production of powdered milk, 
sweetened condensed and ice cream, 
fifth in the production of cheese 
and nineteenth in the production 
of butter. If milk production in 
New York State is cut to slightly 
above fluid demands, the Nation’s 
war effort as a whole will suffer. 
Action Needed 
It has become a recognized fact 
that milk production in 1944 will 
be far short of demands. A recent 
release by an official of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture stated “Re- 
flecting feed shortages and less 
favorable financial returns, milk 
production in 1944 will result in a 
deficit of 8 billion pounds next 
year. ’ ’ To salvage as much produc- 
tion as possible, decisive action by 
the Government will be necessary. 
Half-way measures will not suffice. 
There can be little doubt that 
unless higher returns are allowed 
dairy farmers with which to meet 
increasing costs, they will turn to 
more attractive alternatives, either 
better paying farm crops or higher 
paying industrial employment. For 
this reason, the administration 
should foster a program of higher 
prices for milk. 
By higher prices I do not mean 
subsidies. Farmers are opposed to 
subsidy payments. Dairy farmers 
cannot risk heavy investments in 
dairies and dairy equipment for 
the promise of a subsidy payment 
which can be stopped at any time 
at the will of the administration. 
Subsidy payments may ease the 
cost situation temporarily, but they 
will not bring the needed produc- 
tion. 
To obtain maximum production, 
the Government should take steps 
to make more feed available to 
dairy farmers and to obtain a bet- 
ter distribution of such grains as 
are available. An insufficient 
increase in the price of corn and 
ceiling prices on other feed grains 
will not accomplish this end. By 
placing ceilings on feed grains the 
104 Government ties the hands of dairy 
farmers by making it impossible 
for them to bid corn and other 
grains away from the present own- 
ers who can use them to better 
profit than by putting the grain on 
the market. 
Relaxing import duties on grains 
may increase the supply somewhat, 
but it is doubtful if much foreign 
grain can be brought in because 
of the shortage of shipping space. 
The number of hired workers on 
farms on November 1 was the 
lowest for the month since the 
depression years and is 8 per cent 
less than the 1938-42 average. 
To enable farmers to produce as 
much milk as possible, a plan must 
be devised to keep farm workers on 
farms. 
This will require exemption from 
the draft of the younger boys who 
are growing into draft age. At the 
present moment draft boards are 
beginning to press 19 to 20 year old 
farm bo}rs for induction. This is 
creating a very serious situation in 
the dairy section. It means a suf- 
ficient return to farmers to enable 
them to pay high enough wages to 
hold their hired help. The labor 
shortage is intensifying the short- 
age of milk production. 
To help ease the farm labor 
shortage, more, not less, farm 
machinery and supplies must be 
made available to dairy farmers. 
Farm machinery is the only sub- 
stitute for some of the labor now 
lost to the farms. The cut in the 
production of farm machinery and 
parts in the past two years has 
added much to the burden of the 
labor shortage. 
Farmers should be assured 
enough gasoline and fuel oil for 
all needs. More gasoline should be 
made available to hired help on 
farms, since social life is essential 
for farm help morale. 
I know many cases where farm- 
ers have had to drive to town three 
times, in order to get permission to 
buy a pair of rubber boots to clean 
the barn out, and if you don’t think 
that makes them mad, you ought 
to listen to them for a while, and 
if that doesn’t destroy morale, I 
don’t know what does. 
Fewer Regulations ami 
Restrictions 
Farmers should be relieved of 
needless restrictions and regula- 
tions imposed upon them by Gov- 
ernment within the last few years. 
These include restrictions on 
repairs to machinery, restrictions 
on needed purchases, restrictions 
on marketing that cause loss of 
product, and all the other regula- 
tions that undermine the efforts 
and morale of farmers. Farmers 
are individualists, and as such, 
have become the greatest food pro- 
ducers per man in the world. To 
secure maximum milk production, 
dairy farmers must be relieved of 
much of the red tape that has been 
placed on them in the last two years 
by government. 
Sound Food Policy 
In general, this country is in 
need of a sound food price policy— 
one which puts first needs first. 
The price relationships between 
various feeds and live animals and 
between the various agricultural 
products are among the most com- 
plex in our economy. On many 
105 occasions the controls imposed over 
prices have created more problems 
than they have solved. Our pro- 
gram to date has been a collection 
of ideas of several separate agen- 
cies thrown together without rela- 
tion to each other. We need a 
known national food policy, devel- 
oped by governmental agencies 
working with farm organizations. 
This program should not be tied to 
inflation or labor demands or class 
conflict. 
I might say that our milk pros- 
pects for 1944 depend upon 
whether or not the Federal Govern- 
ment takes steps to form such a 
program. Unless a sound policy is 
established fluid milk supplies may 
be reduced as much as 80 per cent, 
either by shortages or limitation 
orders. 
106 Inflation and Nutrition 
Ray F. Harvey 
Assistant Professor of Government, New York University 
Most people regard inflation 
with fear and misgiving. 
This fear is translated 
into fairly concrete elements: not 
enough money to make ends meet, 
reluctantly accepting substitute 
materials and foods, having to do 
without certain things, and hard 
times. Likewise misgiving is inter- 
preted in potential property loss or 
loss of savings, and perhaps in 
hunger or in loss of jobs. 
Seldom, however, are the con- 
sequences of inflation translated 
into terms of nutrition. But this 
aspect of inflation is one of its most 
immediate as well as long continu- 
ing effects. From the long-term 
point of view, inflation’s assault 
upon the nutritional diets of peo- 
ple may be its most pronounced 
effect. Being less obvious and less 
well understood, it is not surprising 
to discover this aspect of inflation 
receiving little or no attention from 
the people themselves or even from 
those who are charged with respon- 
sibility for. public policy formula- 
tion. 
Various factors contribute to this 
“blind spot” in our national and 
individual thinking. 
Price Rises Affect Diet 
There is the American tradition 
concerning food. It is a widely 
accepted belief that a full stomach 
is a well-fed stomach; though 
science has proved there is no 
necessary relationship between the 
two. This is one of the most subtle 
attacks of inflation on nutrition. 
When commodity prices rise, the 
housewife, confronted with feeding 
the family on an income which has 
not risen proportionately, is forced 
to turn to those commodities from 
which come the greatest bulk of 
food. That these foods may be 
less nutritious is not given much 
thought. In periods of rising 
commodity prices, the first foods to 
be omitted from the housewife’s 
grocery list are the “luxury foods” 
or some of the most “protective 
foods.” Many were included in the 
diet originally not because of any 
conscious desire to improve the diet, 
but, rather, because the budget 
could stand them, and they were 
tasty, or probably they served only 
to relieve the monotony of the diet. 
Therefore, they can be eliminated 
now that prices have gone so high 
without serious consequence to the 
family health. It is easy to under- 
stand this reasoning, though it is 
difficult to justify. 
Another reason for this relatively 
unhampered shift to a less nutri- 
tional diet comes from the relative 
cost of citrus fruits, green leafy 
vegetables, and so on, when com- 
pared with the bulkier foods—the 
cost measured in dollars and cents 
and not in nutritional value. The 
very items in the diet that con- 
tributed to its highest nutritional 
content are the first to be elimi- 
nated. 
The consequences of consuming 
food with low nutritional value are 
107 ITSDA photo by Forsythe 
These protective foods will supply all the protein, minerals and vitamins needed 
for a balanced diet. But these are the foods whose cost has soared 
seldom dramatic. The effects of 
the inadequate diet appear slowly 
and in somewhat disguised form. 
The absence of food in the stomach 
reveals itself immediately by 
hunger pains. These pains can be 
removed just as effectively by fill- 
ing the stomach with non-nutri- 
tious foods as with nutritious foods. 
The less nutritious diet may be 
revealed by a lethargy, a slowing 
down, a loss of weight, a lack of 
vitality—there are many ways. But 
seldom are these factors connected 
with the kinds of food being con- 
sumed. 
Inflation and Nutrition 
The effects of inflation on nutri- 
tion are so casual. They creep 
upon us so unostentatiously. It is 
difficult at any particular time or 
with any special group or, for that 
matter, with any individual to show 
clearly or convincingly that infla- 
tion is anti-nutritional. 
Also, in inflationary periods in- 
comes are rising, though not pro- 
portionately to commodity prices. 
This produces a sense of false well- 
being. It is easy to assume that on 
the whole everyone is eating about 
108 as well as before. But we know 
this is not true. There are always 
many in any society who do not 
participate in the general upward 
rise of wages. But there are none 
who escape the increase in com- 
modity prices. 
In war periods, the net effect 
generally is to reduce real incomes. 
This results from government fiscal 
policies—taxes and borrowing— 
and rising commodity prices. How- 
ever, there is for political reasons 
always a rather wide gap between 
amount of civilian goods available 
in wartime and the amount of 
money in the hands of the people. 
This is so in spite of the higher 
wartime taxes. In other words, 
though real income may be reduced, 
because production for civilian con- 
sumption is highly restricted there 
is more money with which to com- 
pete for what there is. Though 
statistical data reveal this high 
excess purchasing power, it does 
not always reveal just what groups 
possess it. This is important. 
White-Collar Class Hurt 
It is estimated that at least 20 
million white-collar and fixed in- 
come employees have had a cut in 
their standard of living. The 
government employees, numbering 
approximately six million, are 
largely in this category. The school 
teachers throughout the Nation 
make up another not inconsiderable 
group—about one million. The em- 
ployees in department stores, in 
small non-war business and in 
banks, for example, make up an- 
other group. Added to these are 
approximately five million persons 
in the United States living in fami- 
lies receiving one or more of the 
three special types of public assist- 
ance, or general assistance. Also 
there is an unknown number of 
needy persons living in communi- 
ties where there is no provision 
for maintenance,; where no general 
assistance programs are operating 
because of lack of funds. Still an- 
other group whose incomes have 
not been increased but, in fact, 
decreased are those families whose 
sons, husbands or fathers, upon 
whom the family was dependent for 
an income, have been inducted into 
the Army. 
Inflation strikes directly and 
immediately at all these people. It 
is a constant struggle—a delaying 
action—on the part of these mem- 
bers of the community to get quan- 
tity irrespective of quality. It is 
a struggle for survival. They have 
no choice of foods. 
An impressive list of active pres- 
sures in the war inflationary period 
could be given, all of which militate 
against a satisfactory nutritional 
diet for the above named groups. 
The necessary restriction of- civilian 
goods production, at the same time 
that pational income is rising, 
swiftly forces purchasing power 
into narrower channels. In peace- 
time this additional income would 
be used to purchase houses, auto- 
mobiles, and so on. Now it goes 
into the food market, thus increas- 
ing the competition for an ever- 
declining supply of available foods. 
Rationing No Assurance of 
Balanced Diet 
Hence rationing and price con- 
trols as techniques attempting to 
insure a fairer distribution of the 
109 USD A photo by Purdy 
This breakfast satisfies all nutrition needs. But the 20 million white-collar and 
fixed-income employes find it hard to buy such a breakfast with food costs sky-high 
available supply. As already 
demonstrated in this war, ration- 
ing cannot insure more food for 
the low-income families. Neither 
can rationing insure more nutri- 
tional foods. Price fixing, likewise, 
can retard the general trend up- 
wards. But it cannot prevent ris- 
ing costs of living. Kationing and 
price fixing drive foods into the 
black market. The better foods 
are the ones that enter this illegal 
market. Only those with money 
can pay black market prices. 
Since the war worker now has 
a higher “take home” pay than he 
had in peacetime, he is buying more 
food than ever before. Also, work- 
ing a longer work-week increases 
the demand for food. And with 
a higher percentage of the popula- 
tion doing manual labor, increased 
quantity of food is demanded. 
Since the amount of available 
food is limited, the effect of these 
pressures is to intensify the compe- 
tition for what there is. So-called 
‘‘protective foods” are now in 
great demand and their prices rise 
rapidly. The net effect of the rise 
in prices, which is the cumulative 
effect of these pressures, forces the 
fixed income and salaried people 
to eat the starchy and protein foods 
because they are bulkier—they give 
the appearance of more food and 
also they are cheaper in price. This 
forces these groups into something 
considerably less than a well- 
rounded diet. 
110 Cost of Most-needed Foods 
Soars Highest 
Milk, fruit, vegetables, eggs and 
meat are called ‘ ‘ protective foods. ’ ’ 
The need for these foods in the 
daily diet is well established. Let 
us take a few examples. The nutri- 
ent Thiamin (vitamin Bi) is essen- 
tial to the maintenance of healthy 
digestive and nervous systems, for 
the eyes and skin and for growth 
generally. This nutrient is found 
in foods such as pork, whole grain 
cereals, legumes—peas, beans, 
green vegetables—asparagus, corn, 
brussel sprouts, and so on. Or 
again, the sources of riboflavin, 
which is necessary for the general 
health and vitality of the body, are 
in eggs, liver, milk, beans, spinach, 
greens such as turnip tops, beet 
tops, kale and so forth. So it is 
with most of the nutrients. 
Yet these are for the most part 
the very foods that have increased 
most in price. They are the foods 
that inflation makes most difficult 
to secure for those groups of people 
outlined above. 
It is well to examine some of the 
consequences nationally to infla- 
tion’s attack upon nutrition. The 
absence of a well balanced diet in 
periods of stress and strain such 
as war is much more costly than 
in peacetime. The immediate effects 
are more expensive. Those groups 
who cannot keep up with the in- 
flationary spiral by getting in- 
creases in income or salaries or 
wages are having their vitality 
sapped slowly but surely. They 
have more colds than usual. Be- 
cause of the pressure of war they 
are not free to take a full sick leave, 
thus the cold is carried to other 
office workers. The cold may ap- 
proach epidemic proportions. Then 
even those with better diets are 
subjected to a wave of colds. The 
result is a loss in war production 
that may reach significant highs. 
It is the one day of work that is lost 
by many in apparently individual 
cases that total into millions of 
man-hours of work lost during a 
year. 
Living Standards Vary 
It has been shown by numerous 
surveys that despite wartime de- 
mands in the form of taxes and 
government borrowings, rationing, 
and non-production of numerous 
articles, the national standard of 
living has increased. Some indexes 
reveal this rise to be as much as 
20 per cent. The natural and 
logical conclusion then may be, and 
is in many quarters, that we are 
all better off than before the war. 
Likewise, it is revealed that in the 
case of food, many people are eat- 
ing more than in the pre-war 
period. For example, restaurants 
have increased in patronage by 
some 200 per cent and there has 
been an increased consumption in 
the more highly nutritious foods. 
We may accept these data as being 
essentially correct. But it is incor- 
rect to assume that these data are 
applicable to all consumers in the 
United States. 
In the first place, increase in in- 
comes has been spotty throughout 
the country. In the next place, 
increases in wages and incomes 
have not been even throughout the 
population. In order to maintain 
this national standard of living it 
has been necessary to increase the 
income by approximately 50 per 
111 USD A photo by Forsythe 
The dollar doesn’t go far in today’s shopping. Note 1941 prices. (Oh, for the good 
old days!) 
cent. There are at least 20 million 
persons in the United States who 
have had little or no increase. It 
has been estimated by Dr. F. A. 
Harper of Cornell University that 
‘ ‘ all who have had increases in in- 
come of less than 30 per cent pre- 
sumably have suffered some de- 
cline in their level of living. ’ ’ 
Committee Testimony 
Testimony before the wartime 
Health and Education Subcommit- 
tee of the Senate Education and 
Labor Committee reveals the plight 
of these employees at the beginning 
of 1944. 
The story told to the Commit- 
tee by Miss Marga Kortenbeutal, 
an employee of the Ottendorfer 
branch library in New York City, 
could be repeated by millions 
throughout the United States. Dur- 
ing the past four years her salary 
has been increased from $130 to 
$160 a month. Due to increased 
taxes and other deductions, her 
“take home” pay was only $3 a 
month more than in 1940. “I think 
anyone will agree,” Miss Korten- 
beutal said, “that the cost of living 
has risen far more than $3 a month 
in the last four years. I make my 
own clothes and I get one good 
and cheap meal a day at the 
library.” 
112 Mr. Arthur J. Altmayer, Direc- 
tor of the Social Security Board, 
testified in behalf of the white col- 
lar worker as follows: “From the 
early part of 1940 to the middle 
of 1943, average weekly wages in 
manufacturing establishments cov- 
ered by State unemployment com- 
pensation laws increased 71 per 
cent—from $26 to $45. Average 
weekly wages of the combined 
group we have classified as white- 
collar increased 21 per cent—from 
$24 to $29.” 
The effect of inflation on nutri- 
tion is implicit in the statement of 
Mr. William H. Davis, Chairman 
of the War Labor Board, before 
the same committee. After plead- 
ing for a continuation of wage 
stabilization, he remarked signi- 
ficantly that if it failed, “the low- 
salaried employees would be 
farthest behind in the futile race 
of wage earners to catch up with 
the cost of living.” 
Conclusion 
Inflation cuts deeply into the 
nutrition of the Nation. It makes 
inroads into the quantity of food 
consumed by the many who receive 
no increase in income. Its most 
pronounced effect, however, is upon 
the quality of food consumed. Its 
results are measured in terms of 
low vitality, decreased war produc- 
tion, epidemics of diseases, and in 
the health of the next generation. 
The effect of inflation on nutrition, 
also, will be evidenced in the 
immediate post-war period. Then 
the longer work-week of the war- 
time period which accounts for 
much of the high “take home” pay 
will be discontinued. Then there 
will be the necessity of demobiliz- 
ing the war workers. This will 
mean that the millions who have 
been able to keep up with the rise 
in commodity prices will join with 
the some 20 million white-collar 
workers of the war period. 
It still remains, however, that 
the public is unaware generally of 
the relation of inflation to nutri- 
tion. This could be, if properly 
exploited, another arguing point 
for preventing or for at least hold- 
ing down inflation. It is true 
though that much has to be done in 
the United States to bring the value 
of correct nutritional diets to the 
people. The dollar and cents value 
of nutrition has yet to be widely 
accepted. Until that is done for 
the rank and file person, inflation 
will not be interpreted as a nutri- 
tional hazard. 
113 ► The black market is neither a moral nor a legal 
problem, hut an economic problem. An address 
delivered at a public hearing of our Committee. 
Anatomy of the Black Market 
Maxwell Stewart 
Editor, Public Affairs Committee Inc 
Most of us tend to think of 
the black market as a le- 
gal problem. We are con- 
cerned primarily with how to en- 
force price ceilings and rationing 
regulations and with punishing 
those who violate these important 
wartime restrictions. 
This emphasis is in part the re- 
sult of misguided newspaper and 
radio emphasis on the gangster ele- 
ment in certain black market oper- 
ations and the obvious similarity 
between the black market and the 
bootlegging of prohibition days. 
Now I agree that there must be 
no place for gangsters in the legiti- 
mate operations involved in feed- 
ing, clothing, and transporting 
millions of American citizens, and 
that the most effective way of deal- 
ing with gangsters is by enforcing 
the law ruthlessly. But most black 
market operations do not involve 
gangsters at all; they involve the 
corner grocery store, the neighbor- 
hood butcher, and the gas station 
down the street where you and I 
have traded for years. The men 
who operate these businesses are 
not criminals in the ordinary sense 
of the word. Nevertheless, their 
black market operations constitute 
a serious threat to the welfare of 
every one of us. For the selling of 
goods above ceiling prices or with- 
out coupons threatens to under- 
mine the purpose and value of the 
Government’s stabilization pro- 
gram. It prevents food and other 
supplies from being distributed 
fairly to those who need them 
most. If not checked, it can do 
more damage to morale and living 
standards on the home front than 
a whole series of military defeats 
on the battle front. The black mar- 
ket places a premium on dishonesty 
and disloyalty and imposes an un- 
justified burden on the patriotic 
law abiding business man as well 
as the loyal consumer and his fam- 
ily- 
Before we can deal adequately 
with the black market we must 
recognize, however, that it is at 
bottom neither a moral nor a legal 
problem but an economic one. All 
countries engaged in the war have 
black markets, fundamentally, they 
are a reflection of inflationary 
pressure. In every war there is a 
tendency toward inflation, due to 
114 the fact that provision of munitions 
and war supplies create new pur- 
chasing power at a time when there 
is less to buy. 
If no attempt is made to control 
this inflation, the people who have 
money buy up all the goods, thus 
undermining health and morale. 
To stop this, all of the leading 
countries have adopted price con- 
trol and rationing. But some in- 
equities are bound to develop in 
any price and rationing system. It 
is impossible for any administra- 
tive agency to take account in ad- 
vance of all the geographic, season- 
al, and other differentials which 
will affect the situation. Even un- 
der the wisest of administrations, 
squeezes are likely to develop which 
will drive some goods into the 
black market. 
But these squeezes are not pri- 
marily responsible for the black 
market. That lies in the inflation- 
ary process itself. Price adminis- 
trators face an almost hopeless task 
in trying to enforce rigid price 
ceilings during a period of increas- 
ing purchasing power. When 
there is too much money in peo- 
ple’s pockets a terrific pressure is 
created which leads to surreptitious 
and illegal buying and selling at 
above the fixed prices. In other 
words, the black market is really an 
illegal inflation. 
The Office of Price Administra- 
tion has faced an almost impossible 
problem during the past year in 
attempting to control prices in the 
face of increasing costs and increas- 
ing buyer power. If it adjusted its 
price ceilings frequently to meet 
the rising costs, a creeping inflation 
would ensue which would ultimate- 
ly overwhelm the entire stabiliza- 
tion program. If it did not make 
such adjustments, more and more 
producers would be driven to the 
black market in an effort to meet 
their increasing costs. 
The President’s hold-the-line or- 
der of last spring represented a 
conscious choice between these two 
evils. The choice was undoubtedly 
a wise one, but it tended to encour- 
age the black market. 
Yet, the OPA has done well in 
recent months in its campaign 
against the black market. Much 
has been achieved merely by 
tightening up administrative pro- 
cedures. For one thing, the crea- 
tion of uniform price eeilings 
which could be printed in the news- 
papers and posted widely in the 
stores greatly eased the task of 
checking price violations. Under 
the new system, consumers can 
readily find out whether they are 
being overcharged, and OPA trav- 
eling inspectors can spot violations 
immediately without having to 
check the dealer’s books and old 
price lists. For another thing, the 
imposition of ceilings on the price 
of live animals on the farm and the 
requirement that all meat be 
stamped with the slaughterer’s 
permit number have helped choke 
off black market supplies at the 
source. 
This is the first test here of the 
system which European countries 
have found most effective in curb- 
ing the black market—compulsory 
licensing of producers. At the same 
time, rationing has brought a bet- 
ter distribution of the supply of 
meats and canned goods, so that 
there is less incentive for a black 
U5 market in these staples. Moreover, 
the newly established OP A com- 
munity price panels have made a 
striking contribution in many lo- 
calities. 
But I think it should be clear to 
all of us that measures of this sort 
will not in themselves uproot the 
black market as long as people 
have more money in their pockets 
than they know what to do with. 
Since it is an economic problem, 
we need economic counter-meas- 
ures. Nothing short of a program 
broad enough to check inflation 
will stop the illegal market. 
President Roosevelt outlined the 
kind of program that is needed in 
his famous Seven Points, contained 
in a fireside chat in the spring of 
1942. The main reason for higher 
taxes and for buying war bonds is 
not, as many of us erroneously sup- 
posed, because the Government 
needs money. High taxes are essen- 
tial as means of absorbing the extra 
money that the war has put in peo- 
ple’s pockets. The buying of war 
bonds, too, is an important part of 
the battle against inflation. So is 
the Government’s wage stabiliza- 
tion program, and its efforts to hold 
down farm prices. For extra 
money in people’s pockets during 
the wartime is dangerous money. 
But without doubt the most ef- 
fective weapon that has been de- 
vised to date for curbing the black 
market is the subsidy. There are, 
of course, sound economic reasons 
why subsidies are more effective in 
checking illegal transactions than 
fines or threats of jail sentences. 
Fines are merely absorbed as one of 
the costs of illegal activity. The 
risk of a prison term is usually 
small. Tu contrast, the payment of 
a subsidy provides producers and 
middleman with a financial incen- 
tive to keep their products in regu- 
lar marketing channels. It provides 
a way for correcting inequities and 
meeting increased cost of produc- 
tion without pushing up living 
costs and necessitating wages and 
further cost increases. 
By using the subsidy as an incen- 
tive, the Government can more 
readily gain control over the entire 
process of distribution. Potential 
black market operators may thus 
be frozen out because of inability 
to get supplies. In tbe long run, 
however, even the subsidy is a pal- 
liative. 
As long as tbe total amount of 
purchasing power created by the 
war effort exceeds the amount re- 
absorbed by purchasers, taxes, and 
war bond sales, there will be an ir- 
resistible pressure against the 
price structure which will seek an 
outlet 3u the black market. 
A broad, concerted attack is 
necessary on all the seven fronts 
outlined by the President. And on 
each of these fronts, we must be 
constantly on our guard against 
creeping attacks by the enemy. A 
number of small reverses may, in 
the long run, be as dangerous as a 
major defeat. Every citizen must 
seek every opportunity to help our 
Government in the never-ending 
struggle against inflation and its 
shadowy counterpart—the black 
market. 
116 ► A condensed version of an extemporaneous address 
delivered at a Dec. 16, 1943 public hearing of our 
Committee. 
Some of Father Knickerbocker’s 
Food Problems 
Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia 
The problem of food supply, 
distribution and price in 
wartime cannot be ap- 
proached along the lines of any- 
thing we know or are accustomed 
to. It must be analyzed from an 
emergency viewpoint. 
I do want to say that people can- 
not eat statistics. Nor can you give 
a survey to a nursing baby. We 
have just about all the statistics we 
currently need. Taking the coun- 
try as a whole, we are producing 
more food than ever before. Crops 
have been good, and it must be said 
to the everlasting credit of the 
American farmer and producers 
that they have responded magnifi- 
cently to the call of their Govern- 
ment. 
It is sad to have to admit that in 
peacetime and in a time when we 
claimed to have had surpluses, 
there were a very large number of 
people in our country who did not 
have sufficient or proper food. 
They certainly did not have any- 
thing like the menu of the Ameri- 
can table that we like to talk about 
when we are talking about a tariff 
or making a Fourth of July speech. 
Today, many of these people are 
eating more than ever before. This 
is particularly true of meat and 
articles of food that enter into an 
American menu. 
Therefore, there has been a 
marked increase in the demand for 
food, in addition to the food that 
necessarily had to be acquired by 
the armed forces of onr country 
and for Lend-Lease purposes. 
The supply for the armed forces 
is a great deal more than anyone 
imagines. The Army and Navy 
have provided for every possible 
war emergency and any possible 
unforeseen military situation. The 
responsibility of the Command is, 
of course, to have food for the 
troops anywhere, at any time, no 
matter what happens. 
The armed forces have reserves 
at every level, a reserve in the 
event of crop failure; a reserve in 
the event transportation fails; a 
reserve if other emergencies arise; 
and that accounts for the enormous 
reserve that is on hand but which 
could not have been reduced. 
Rationing 
Knowing that the supply of food 
would not meet the civilian demand 
in our country unless it was prop- 
erly distributed, it became neces- 
sary to invoke the ration system. 
Without rationing, food would go 
to the most favorable markets, leav- 
ing sections of our country without 
food. In a system without ration- 
ing New York City would, of 
course, get more food. But we 
would not be happy with that if 
we knew that other sections were 
117 Men and meat 
USDA photo by Knell 
part of the OPA; I think also, on 
the part of Congress. 
The one big weakness of the 
present price control system is 
that it does not go all the way 
through; and, therefore, Congress 
must make a decision, and make 
it before very long: Either to place 
price controls from the seed right 
up to the retail level, from the 
animal on the hoof right up to 
the sliced meat on the retail butch- 
er’s block, or else to make up the 
difference somewhere along the 
line. 
The difficulty today, and what 
has caused the black market, is 
that in many commodities, the first 
ceiling price is placed after the 
not getting enough. Therefore, it 
was necessary to take certain staple 
commodities and put them under a 
ration system. But along with the 
ration system, you need to have 
price control; otherwise, some peo- 
ple who can afford to pay any price 
would get the food, and others 
would be unable to purchase food. 
The two go together: A ration sys- 
tem with price control. 
Enforcement Problems 
Such a system is easy to explain, 
but is difficult to enforce. It is con- 
trary to everything we have been 
accustomed to and that makes it all 
the more difficult. There is still a 
great deal more to be done on the 
118 raw product, and up to not so very 
long ago, after the animal was 
slaughtered. In case of meat, the 
large packers claimed loss per an- 
imal, but they admit they could 
absorb this because of the many by- 
products that they produce. The 
small independent packer, however, 
could not absorb such a loss, with 
the result that he either went out 
of business, sold his plant, or took 
a chance in selling to the black 
market. It is very much the same 
as the days of Prohibition when 
irresponsible and disreputable peo- 
ple acquired breweries or distil- 
leries to make malt extracts or med- 
ical liquors. 
Meat 
We had a great deal of trouble 
in enforcing, in the early days, 
price and rationing regulations 
affecting meat. We started with no 
necessary enforcement legislation, 
and then later all we had was the 
State law making violations an in- 
fraction, punishable by a fine of 
$25, five days in jail, or both. 
I personally interviewed several 
hundred retail butchers—with the 
understanding that the source 
would be kept confidential. Believe 
me, we got a liberal education! I 
also interviewed all of the big 
packers and intermediate packers 
and most of the wholesalers; and 
there is no doubt that in the begin- 
ning the retail butcher could not 
get meat at ceiling prices. The 
“Big Four” and the next eight big 
packers did not violate the ceiling 
prices; but their supply was so 
small and their quota to their cus- 
tomers was so small, that the retail 
butcher could not supply his trade 
or could not make his overhead on 
the amount that he could get at 
ceiling prices. 
Before long, a new technique 
developed. The butcher went into 
the refrigerator alone with the 
salesman, and the salesman had 
pockets in his apron, and the 
butcher had to pay or he wouldn’t 
get his meat. 
The packers cooperated, and 
several persons lost their jobs, but 
we could never get anyone or any 
group to testify in order to prose- 
cute the salesmen. 
Not being able to get enough 
meat on his allotment, according to 
his past record of sales, the retailer 
naturally had to go out and buy 
meat elsewhere. So there develop- 
ed a technique of evading ceiling 
prices. It was done in several ways. 
The meat would be sold at ceiling 
prices, and at that time shanks, 
liver, heart, brains, heads and other 
cuts not under price control, 
would be sold along with the price 
controlled meat, in order to bring 
the total up. That is called the 
tie-in sale. Another device was 
simply to put on the bill a larger 
quantity than was actually deliv- 
ered, and to make up the difference 
that way. Others required a check 
in payment for the legal price, 
and than took the difference in 
cash. That condition has improved 
a great deal now, because of the 
greater supply of meat and better 
enforcement. 
The OPA has been very helpful; 
they have promulgated a regula- 
tion requiring all meat to be accom- 
panied by a manifest or invoice 
from the source of origin right to 
the retail level. The Health Depart- 
119 raent of New York City has enacted 
a similar ordinance, and so we can 
now go out and trace some of the 
meat. This is very helpful. 
Upgrading, I fear, still exists. In 
announcing prices in New York 
City, I personally do not announce 
any Prime A choice, because I do 
not think it exists, and if it does 
exist, the hotels and restaurants 
get it. We pay for Prime A but 
do not get it. The meat we get is 
simply not of the quality that we 
are accustomed to in New York 
City. The feeder trade is simply 
out, because of the high cost of feed, 
so we get grazing cattle or cattle 
directly from the packers. 
When a wholesaler has to pay 
more than his legal sales price, 
you have the start of your difficul- 
ties. When the retailer has to pay 
more than he is permitted to charge 
the housewife, he is going to try 
to recoup. In the early days when 
we had to enforce ceiling and ration 
regulations, it was cruel, but we 
had to enforce them, otherwise con- 
ditions would have gone wild in 
this town. 
Onions 
Retailers often would pay a fine, 
and just charge it to overhead, and 
go back to the same thing over 
again. They were paying fines, 
but they kept on selling. 
There have been some mistakes 
made. Take the situation in onions. 
The price fixed for the producer 
was too low, so the producers held 
back. If a little more had been 
granted to the producer, the con- 
sumer would have obtained a bet- 
ter break. 
It worked this way: the pro- 
ducer would not sell. The onions 
got into the black market and when 
we got them, we had to pay more 
than we would have had to pay 
had it been a proper adjustment all 
the way through. That condition 
is improving. 
We had a case when the first crop 
of apples was coming in from the 
West. The OPA slapped a ceiling 
price on apples that overlooked 
freight and commission costs. But 
that was corrected in 24 or 36 
hours; otherwise, we would have 
had no apples from the West or 
the prices would have gotten out 
of control. 
Citrus Fruit 
Enforcement of citrus fruit 
prices is much easier. The source 
of supply is in fewer hands, and 
it is all sold in the open in New 
York City—about 95 per cent of 
the citrus fruit is-sold by the open 
auction system. And while there is 
no bidding, it is sold in the open so 
that the price is known. It can’t 
be hidden from the producer to the 
receiver or wholesaler in the city. 
When some took a chance and 
violated the ceiling price, the Unit- 
ed States Attorney stepped in 
beautifully, and the Federal courts 
proved very helpful. 
Here is where the consumer is 
stuck on citrus fruit. The price of 
oranges is by the box. If they are 
large oranges, of course, the con- 
sumers get less; if the oranges are 
small, the consumer gets more. But 
they are bought by the box, and 
the box by weight. When it comes 
to the retailer, he sells them by 
the dozen. So my wife comes home 
very happy and she says, “See, I 
have oranges for the children at 
ceiling prices.” But we can’t mea- 
120 sure the circumference of every 
orange. In all likelihood, she has 
paid more. 
We are going to sell citrus fruit 
by the pound and that will abso- 
lutely protect the consumer, and 
it is fair to the retailer and the 
wholesaler, because they buy it 
in that way; and that amendment 
ought to be announced very soon. 
Potatoes 
Regarding fresh fruits, the 
Government very often has to go 
out and support the market. We 
had that in potatoes, spinach, snap 
beans. And the consumer gets no 
benefit. You will remember that 
when we reached about the end of 
the last crops of potatoes and await- 
ing the new crops from the South 
and the North, there was almost a 
famine of potatoes. We had all 
sorts of bootlegging; they were sell- 
ing bootleg potatoes. We stepped 
on that very vigorously. Then, lo 
and behold! All of a sudden the 
supply of new potatoes came along. 
The farmers, having been encour- 
aged to plant more acreage in pota- 
toes, did so, and the crop was very 
abundant and the market broke. 
The Department of Agriculture 
went out and supported the market 
by buying potatoes. 
But you can’t store new potatoes; 
they have no skin, and you have to 
dispose of them. I don’t know how 
many carloads went to waste. I 
could get all the potatoes I wanted 
for nothing, for institutions, pro- 
vided we did not reduce the normal 
purchase of potatoes. But we could 
take so many and no more. Now, 
I believe that where it is necessary 
for the Department of Agriculture 
to go out and support a market, 
in order that the farmer may get 
enough to pay for producing those 
potatoes, that protects him. But 
the consumers should get the bene- 
fit to the full amount of the money 
spent to support that market. 
Under the existing system, the 
food is withdrawn from consump- 
tion, and it is wicked and sinful 
at this time to withdraw any food 
for consumption. 
Subsidy Urged 
One of two alternatives will 
happen. Either (1) our whole 
price control system is going to 
break, (2) the Government will 
have to fix prices at the very origin, 
or (3) the Government will have to 
provide a subsidy. The producer 
cannot continue to grow food or 
raise cattle at a loss. Therefore, 
if the cost of production is such 
that the price level of retail prices 
cannot be maintained, the Govern- 
ment must make up the difference. 
The farmers are opposing that, and 
I think it is because of misinforma- 
tion or misapprehension as to what 
it might do. 
Surely, the farmers are not new 
to subsidies. I first went to Con- 
gress back in 1916. And we had 
subsidies almost every year in one 
way or another. We had it in corn, 
wheat, cotton and tobacco; I have 
lived through all of that. So it 
can’t be new to them. But here is 
a subsidy that will reflect and 
maintain that parity which agri- 
culture should have; it gives some 
benefit to the consumer. If prices 
continue the way they are, then 
nothing is going to happen. It can- 
not stop—inflation will come in, 
and when inflation goes along and 
121 it is beyond control, you can read- 
ily see what will happen then. 1 
am very much concerned about it. 
Take two commodities that are 
very easily understood : Bread and 
milk. 
At the present time milk—and 
this is of great interest to our State 
—milk is being subsidized about 
two cents a quart. The consumer 
can’t take any more on the retail 
price of milk; he just can’t. Flour 
is about one-fourth of a cent to a 
loaf of bread; that quarter of a 
cent passes right on until it may 
become a cent or two cents by the 
time it gets to the consumer. 
Here in New York City I venture 
to say we have better enforcement 
of ceiling prices than any large 
city in the country. In some places 
you will find ads in the newspapers 
of groceries, meats, produce, just 
flagrantly and brazenly way over 
ceiling prices. We try to hold it 
down here. 
We have had about 6,000, last 
week, convictions or pleas of guilty 
under the provisions of your State 
law. We have had 14 or 15 thou- 
sand cases. We do not take a 
retailer into a Magistrates’ Court 
the first time. We bring him in, 
explain the law, make an investi- 
gation; we find out whether it was 
an intentional act or whether it was 
done in ignorance, or whether it 
was the pressure of having paid too 
much. That information is given 
to the Department of Markets. 
They take the enforcement of the 
law under the provisions of your 
State law at the retail level. 
Several cases developed from the 
disregard of the law on the part 
of wholesalers through tie-in sales 
or through overcharging; these we 
referred to the Sheriff’s Office, and 
they went after the wholesale buy- 
ers. This is the first time in a 
great many years that the Sheriff’s 
Office has been invoked in the 
enforcement of a quasi-judicial sta- 
tute, And the Federal Govern- 
ment, we refer the cases where we 
have real wholesale cases or where 
the violation involves large quan- 
tities or large amounts. There is 
complete and fine co-operation be- 
tween the District Attorney’s Office 
of the Eastern District of New 
York and the Southern District 
of New York. 
Please do not get the idea that 
I make any claim there are no viola- 
tions of ceiling prices in New York. 
There are. And it keeps us busy. 
But all the resources that we have 
in personnel and agencies of 
Government to hold it down are 
being utilized; and, too, you will 
find in regions where there is no 
enforcement, particularly if there 
are war industries, food will go 
there because of the possibility of 
increased prices. 
This coming spring, we will have 
some bad periods. Conditions will 
not improve. The present favor- 
able condition of meat as to amount 
will not be as good in the spring. 
We are past a very bad period in 
milk, and now we keep on going 
until we hit the next short season 
when we will go lower than we did 
this time, and then when we come 
back, we will not come back as high 
as we do this year. 
Whatever the outlook for 1944 
and 1945 as to food, it is not going 
to improve (and that is true even 
if the war should end, that is, hosti- 
lities should end), because of the 
122 enormous need of food all over the 
world. 
We may expect the necessity of 
continuing the rationing and price 
control even after we stop firing— 
maybe for a year or a year and a 
half, because of the demand for 
food. 
Paragraph 6 of section VII of 
the New York State War Emer- 
gency Act, has been a life-saver. 
This paragraph authorizes the 
State War Council to enact or to 
pass a resolution making a viola- 
tion of any Federal regulation or 
rule an infraction, and provides a 
penalty but as we go along, the 
technique of avoiding Federal 
regulations and rules and prices 
improves all the time, and there- 
fore we must have improved ma- 
chinery to meet it. And I strongly 
recommend that a statute be writ- 
ten making a violation of a price 
regulation directly a misdemeanor 
rather than an infraction. 
Let me give you an instance. 
Take the case of the small dealer. 
You have the case where you go 
in with that one sale, and he may 
get a $25 fine, and if it is repeated, 
he will get a $25 fine again. 
That is the maximum—the maxi- 
mum is five days in jail. We have 
had wholesalers that were brought 
in who had perhaps 150 instances 
of 150 separate violations. Now, 
just look at all of the time it takes 
to try each one of these cases 
separately; while if you made it a 
misdemeanor you could proceed on 
one case, and then the Court in 
meting out punishment could take 
into consideration the entire atmo- 
sphere and conduct of the defend- 
ant. 
And so I press very strongly that 
it be made a State misdemeanor 
to violate any of these laws. 
Food Conservation 
Then 1 would ask for power to 
be lodged either in the State War 
Board or delegate it from it to 
enforce the necessary regulations 
for the conservation of food. Now 
we must depend entirely on the 
voluntary cooperation, and the 
decent reputable hotel or restau- 
rant or consumer will do it. 
There is only a very small per- 
centage that would disregard an 
appeal, but it spoils everything. 
The minute a few will do it, it 
makes it so unfair to those who 
want to comply. And therefore, 
the machinery must be provided 
where in any given commodity con- 
servation is necessary and in order 
to do so we must curtail its use 
either by not selling on certain 
days or not to be consumed on 
certain days; we ought to have 
the authority to do it, and that 
would be very helpful. I think 
that with those two changes we can 
hold our own for the next year, 
at least. 
I would say no one would dare 
to venture just what the food situa- 
tion will be, with any degree of 
accuracy, in 1945, but it will not 
be any better as to quantity in 
1944, and the present situation will 
not continue. The supply is bound 
to go down, and you will have more 
rationing, I think, under better 
regulation and better enforcement. 
Had it not been for the amend- 
ment to your State Emergency Law 
passed by the Legislature this last 
session, we would have been in a 
very bad situation here in New 
York City, particularly during the 
first six months of price control. 
123 The Meat Situation in the 
City of New York 
Joseph Cohn 
Counsel, Meat Trade Institute, Inc. and New York Council of Wholesale Meat 
Dealers, Inc. 
The unwarranted meat 
famine which has steadily 
prevailed in New York City, 
under meat price control and 
rationing, has during the past 
several months been substantially 
relieved. But this is temporary. 
The comparatively plentiful supply 
of pork and low grade and quality 
beef, veal, lamb and mutton, now 
at hand results from the (a) sus- 
pension of slaughtering quotas, 
current marketing of hogs, 
(b) liquidation of herds which 
would ordinarily be sent to feed 
lots, (c) Jack of freezer facilities 
to store meat for future use and 
(d) increased shipments to the 
New York City area of meat which 
cannot be marketed elsewhere. 
There is little in this situation of 
promise to home consumers in New 
York City that they will henceforth 
regularly receive their just share 
of the meat available for civilian 
consumption. 
On the contrary, price and 
rationing policies of the OPA and 
WFA are radically changed to 
take into full account the complex 
meat supply and distribution sys- 
tems peculiar to the New York 
City metropolitan area, which has 
a population of twelve million but 
no nearby livestock producing cen- 
ters or adequate slaughtering fa- 
cilities of its own, New York City 
will, in the not very distant future, 
again face a meat famine of even 
more serious proportions than pre- 
vailed there during most of the 
year 1943. Moreover, the expected 
meat shortage will recur in New 
York City, notwithstanding the 
fact that meat may continue to be 
plentiful elsewhere. 
1944 Meat Production to Rise 
The national production of meat 
during the 3rear 1944 is expected to 
be even higher than it was in the 
year 1943 and sufficient to meet 
all war and civilian requirements. 
Therefore, the 1944 meat shortage 
in New York City will not be due 
to a shortage of livestock, curtail- 
ment of the available meat supply, 
increased purchases of meat by 
War Procurement Agencies, or in- 
creased consumer demand for meat 
in high wage defense industry 
areas, as the Office of Price Admin- 
istration and War Food Adminis- 
tration will undoubtedly again try 
to explain. It will be due solely 
and exclusively to OPA and WFA 
price and rationing policies, which 
have regularly and consistently 
operated to completely destroy the 
normal channels of wholesale dis- 
tribution of meat in the New York 
City metropolitan area, and especi- 
ally, the channels of wholesale dis- 
tribution of meat for resale to home 
consumers. 
The outstanding feature of all 
124 These little piggies 
don’t go to New York 
city markets 
Because they don’t, 
regulations of OPA 
and WFA are blamed 
meat price, restriction, distribu- 
tion and rationing regulations and 
orders issued to-date, as affecting 
the wholesale distribution of meat 
in New York City, has been the 
persistent refusal of the OPA and 
the WFA to recognize the essential 
nature of the function of wholesale 
distribution of meat, and their un- 
yielding assumption that, with or 
without wholesalers in New York 
City or elsewhere, meat produced 
for civilian consumption will some- 
how distribute itself equitably 
throughout the Nation and that 
every person in the United States, 
including New York City, will or 
should somehow be able to buy 
his or her full ration limit of meat 
at ceiling prices. 
Non-slaughterers Hit 
In line with this theory, the 
Office of Price Administration to 
this day seeks to maintain ceiling 
prices at the various levels of whole- 
sale distribution of meat without 
providing price margins sufficient 
to cover essential operations of 
wholesale distribution, and to bring 
about an equitable distribution of 
125 meat, without implementing 
slaughtering restrictions and con- 
sumer rationing by provisions 
which would assure a regular and 
orderly flow of meat available for 
civilian consumption through 
normal channels of wholesale dis- 
tribution. This is an obvious 
fallacy in reasoning and has been 
utterly refuted to-date. 
This policy of half measures 
found its foremost expression in 
the provisions of Meat Restriction 
Order No. 1 (subsequently super- 
seded by Food Distribution Order 
75), which placed complete control 
of the civilian meat supply in the 
hands of slaughterers. No obliga- 
tion was placed on the slaughterers 
to share any part of the meat sup- 
ply with non-slaughtering proces- 
sors and wholesalers whom they 
have normally supplied, and upon 
whom the civilian population, 
especially in New York City, has 
normally depended for a major 
part of its supply of meat and meat 
products. The original provisions 
of Revised Maximum Price Regula- 
tions 169 and 239, in addition to 
denying to wholesalers a price mar- 
gin sufficient to cover necessary 
distribution operations, singled out 
wholesalers as a class and pro- 
hibited slaughterers to sell to 
wholesalers and wholesalers to pur- 
chase from slaughterers any quan- 
tity of beef, veal, lamb or mutton, 
regardless how small, except at a 
minimum discount from uniform 
ceiling prices of per cwt. 
The foregoing provisions, which 
caused all slaughterers to refuse to 
sell any meat to wholesalers and to 
divert their entire civilian meat 
supply to the hotel and restaurant 
trade to whom meat in wholesale 
quantities was permitted to be sold 
without the required discount, 
made it impossible for wholesalers 
in New York City to supply any 
meat to retailers for resale to home 
consumers. It compelled over 100 
wholesalers in New York City to 
completely suspend operations and 
brought about the protracted meat 
famine in New York City, which 
for many months made it impos- 
sible to fill ration points in the 
hands of home consumers. 
Other repercussions of the fore- 
going provisions have been (a) a 
complete shifting of the wholesale 
distribution of meats in New York 
City into the hands of irresponsible 
persons not previously engaged in 
the wholesale meat trade and in- 
dustry; (b) an avalanche of cir- 
cumvention and evasion, which has 
flooded the Nation and which no 
measure of enforcement has thus 
far been able to cope with, and 
(c) a black market in meats which, 
for many months, seriously threa- 
tened to completely wreck the 
entire meat price and rationing 
programs and to this day seriously 
impairs the effectiveness of said 
programs not only in New York 
City but also in many other areas. 
The only changes effected by the 
Office of Price Administration to 
remedy the disastrous results of 
the above mentioned provisions, 
have been a belated revocation of 
the wholesalers’ discount provision 
and the substitution therefor of 
an operating margin for whole- 
salers of 75(j; per cwt. which amount 
is wholly insufficient to cover neces- 
sary operations of wholesale dis- 
tribution, and an amendment to 
126 Ration Order 16, which declares it 
to be “the policy of said Order” 
that no slaughterer shall discrimi- 
nate against any independent proc- 
essor, wholesaler or other distribu- 
tor customarily supplied by such 
slaughterer, but is so worded as to 
have no force of law. 
Needless to say the foregoing 
changes of provision have wholly 
failed to alleviate the dislocation 
of distribution of meat in New 
York City. The continued failure 
of the Office of Price Administra- 
tion to enable legitimate whole- 
salers in New York City to obtain 
sufficient meat for sale to retailers 
dependent on them for their sup- 
ply and to carry on operations with- 
out a loss, which they are unable 
to absorb, has served only to stead- 
ily aggravate the chaos which has 
prevailed in the meat situation in 
New York City since the early days 
of meat price control and despite 
rationing. 
This steadily aggravating chaos 
will continue unabated in New 
York City and bring recurrent 
meat shortages there, despite the 
fact that the “price squeeze” on 
packers, resulting from the former 
lack of relationship between fixed 
ceiling prices of dressed meat and 
uncontrolled and continuously ris- 
ing prices of livestock, has at last 
been substantially relieved by the 
establishment, in October, 1943, of 
ceiling prices on live hogs, and the 
Directive of the Office of Economic 
Stabilization, effective December, 
1943, which made subsidy payment 
on cattle conditional upon the pur- 
chase of same within certain fixed 
price ranges and granted addi- 
tional subsidy payments to non- 
processing slaughterers of cattle, 
who were especially adversely 
affected by the said ‘ ‘ price 
squeeze.” 
The only measures which will 
assure to New York City an equit- 
able distribution of rationed meat 
at ceiling prices and put an end 
to the black market in meats which 
continues there, despite vigorous 
enforcement not only by the OPA 
but also by the Sheriff and the 
Department of Markets of the City 
of New York, are provisions based 
upon recognition of fact that (a) 
the distribution facilities of the 
slaughter houses and slaughterers’ 
branch houses in the New York 
City metropolitan area have norm- 
ally been and still are wholly in- 
adequate to effect a sufficient or 
equitable distribution of meat in 
that area; that (b) close to 60% of 
the meat required by New York 
City was normally brought into the 
city and distributed there by hun- 
dreds of non-slaughtering proces- 
sors and wholesalers; that (e) 
equitable distribution of rationed 
meat in New York City without 
said processors and wholesalers is 
wholly impossible; that (d) a 
breakdown of meat price control 
and rationing in New York City 
is not purely a local problem, but 
will seriously impair the effective- 
ness of said programs throughout 
the Nation, and that, (e) in order 
to assure to home consumers in 
New York City their just share of 
the meat available for civilian con- 
sumption and to make meat price 
control and rationing truly effec- 
tive there, it is essential that the 
wholesale distribution of meat in 
New York City be restored to the 
127 legitimate wholesale trade and that 
non-slaughtering processors and 
wholesalers in that area be assured 
an adequate supply of meat to 
satisfy their trade and a price mar- 
gin sufficient to cover necessary 
operations of wholesale distri- 
bution. 
To give due recognition to these 
facts and to eliminate effectively 
the continuously expanding black 
market in meats and prevent a 
recurrent meat famine in New York 
City during the year 1944, it is 
essential that the present meat dis- 
tribution, rationing and price pro- 
grams be forthwith implemented 
by the adoption of the following 
measures: 
1. Amendment of Food Distri- 
bution Order 75 and Ration Order 
16 by provisions requiring every 
slaughterer to sell monthly to 
every non-slaughtering meat proc- 
essor, wholesaler or retailer, who 
purchased meat from him during 
the year 1941, the same percentage 
of his current total monthly civil- 
ian supply of each kind of meat, 
as the percentage of his total sales 
of such meat which he sold to such 
non-slaughterer during the corre- 
sponding month of 1941; and 
2. Amendment of all wholesale 
meat price regulations by provi- 
sions : 
(a) Eliminating all mandatory 
discounts, including the reduced 
discount of 25c per cwt. on carload 
sales of beef, veal, lamb, mutton 
and variety meats, and enabling 
wholesalers to purchase needed 
quantities of meat at full ceiling 
prices and without any disadvan- 
tage in relation to other buyers; 
(b) Establishing for wholesal- 
ers a price margin sufficient to 
cover essential operations of 
wholesale distribution, which 
under present conditions must be 
at least $2.00 per cwt.; and 
(c) Limiting the volume of all 
meats (other than sausage), which 
may be sold by any wholesaler or 
other intermediate distributor to 
purchasers other than War Pro- 
curement Agencies, to the volume 
of such meat sold by him to such 
purchasers during the correspond- 
ing period of 1941. 
128 School Lunches 
PART III 
CONSOLIDATED REPORT 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE 
ON NUTRITION On school lunch menus soup is important 
Johnny Needs His Lunch 
Thomas C. Desmond 
Chairman, New York State, Joint Legislative Committee on Nutrition 
Johnny Hartnett was an eight- 
year old, a “dead-end kid’' 
from a tough neighborhood. 
At school he was a troublemaker, 
nasty-tempered, an accomplished 
hooky player and a frequent 
thinker. Teachers called him a 
problem child. His principal in- 
vestigated one day, and found that 
Johnny’s problem was food. His 
mother was working in a war plant, 
li is father was overseas. 
Johnny had been living on a basic 
diet of beans, bread and coffee. The 
principal prescribed a hot noon 
meal daily at school, free. The 
change was amazing. Johnny’s 
lean frame added weight. His at- 
tendance was better. His disposi- 
tion improved, and his marks 
spiraled from D’s to B’s. 
Every school has its Johnnies 
who need a hearty meal as much as 
they need their A, B, C’s. Nine 
million of our school children are 
malnourished, according to United 
States Surgeon General Thomas 
Parran. 
And yet what has been done? 
The entire school lunch program 
was threatened with collapse when 
WPA which furnished personnel to 
help prepare and serve 2,500,000 
school meals a day, was abolished. 
Delays and bickering in Congress 
which hesitated to provide money 
for the school lunch program fur- 
ther added to the menace confront- 
131 ing the school lunches of our 
children. 
Some communities exercised good 
old “Yankee ingenuity” to keep 
school cafeterias open. Women 
organized shows to pay for cook- 
ing utensils. Families provided 
food from their Victory Gardens. 
Teachers took money from their 
own salaries to keep the program 
alive. 
But while these stop-gap volun- 
teer activities have been helpful in 
assuring continuation of the pro- 
gram in some communities, there 
can be no permanent lunch pro- 
gram until Congress and the Presi- 
dent issue a firm expression of 
national opportunity to secure a 
hot, balanced lunch at school. 
Toward the fulfillment of this goal, 
a five-point program must be in- 
stituted : 
1. The Federal Government 
should contribute substantial sums 
of money to help support the 
school lunches. 
2. Each state should contribute 
a share of the funds and supervise 
the administration of the lunch 
program. 
3. The states should repeal leg- 
islation which bans school boards 
from subsidizing cafeterias. 
4. Local communities should 
pay part of the cost of the lunch 
program, not by begging contribu- 
tor from individuals and civic 
groups, but by regular annual ap- 
propriations from boards of educa- 
tion. 
5. Schools should be granted by 
the OPA priorities in the purchase 
of food, and the FDA should assist 
in securing special allotments of 
non-rationed food for the school 
children. 
It will not be easy to secure adop- 
tion of these proposals. Time and 
effort will be required. But we shall 
be repaid in knowing we are put- 
ting bones and brain and stamina 
into the pitifully neglected genera- 
tion we expect someday to remake 
the world. 
132 “God is great and God is good and we thank Him for this food . . .” 
USDA photo by Knell 
The School Lunch Program from a 
National Point of View 
Edna P, Amidon 
Chief, Home Economics Education Service, U. S. Office of Education 
The school lunch is widely 
recognized as one important 
means of achieving better 
nutrition and health for children. 
Many organizations and Govern- 
ment agencies have worked with 
school officials and teachers to as- 
sist them in endeavoring to make 
a lunch available to every school 
child, with the result that the num- 
ber of schools providing meals for 
children has grown steadily from 
year to year and schools and com- 
munities increasingly are recogniz- 
ing the school lunch as an integral 
part of the total educational pro- 
gram. 
Development of the Program 
Until recently the general con- 
ception of the place of the school 
lunch was that of a feeding unit 
set up in the school but not of the 
133 sehool. Many of the present prob- 
lems in connection with promoting, 
organizing, and carrying on school 
lunch programs have grown out of 
the fact that the school lunch in the 
past was commonly thought of as 
an activity merely incidental in 
the school day and not (with a few 
notable exceptions) as a part of 
the total educational program of 
the school. 
At the beginning of the depres- 
sion, many schools discontinued the 
sale of school lunches because a 
great many children had no money 
to spend for lunch at school. As 
time went on, many families had 
little money to spend on food, and 
frequently not only lacked money 
for their children to buy lunches at 
school but had no food at home to 
pack in the lunch box. School ad- 
ministrators, teachers, and welfare 
workers became alarmed at the 
number of children who came to 
school hungry. As they began to 
define their responsibilities to 
school children in terms of existing 
conditions they came to believe 
“that an adequate noonday meal 
shoidd he available to every school 
child.” 1 
This belief led many schools to 
initiate various types of feeding 
programs. In some instances com- 
plete meals were served. In others 
“soup kitchens” served soup, 
crackers or bread, and milk. Still 
others served hot cereal and milk 
to children who came to school 
without breakfast. Some feeding 
programs were only for under- 
privileged children. Others were 
for all pnpils. Many organizations 
and agencies helped the schools in 
the promotion and operation of 
such programs. Among the work 
done by organizations that of the 
National Congress of Parents and 
Teachers was outstanding. The Ex- 
tension Service of the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, the American 
Red Cross, and many church and 
civic groups, also, made important 
contributions at this stage of the 
development. 
In many communities curricu- 
lum revision in schools paraded the 
school-feeding activities. Modern 
educational philosophy, with em- 
phasis on problems of everyday liv- 
ing, brought educators face to face 
with the fact that health and nu- 
trition of children were foremost 
among the problems with which the 
schools should be concerned. 
As principals and teachers, by 
means of aid supplied by cooperat- 
ing organizations and agencies, di- 
rected feeding programs in schools 
and as more people accepted the 
function of education in accord- 
ance with the more modern inter- 
pretation there was widespread 
adoption of the belief “that the 
school lunch should he made an 
educational experience for the 
pupil1 
For most schools it was impos- 
sible to develop lunch programs 
which were a manifestation of this 
belief. Neither local, State, nor 
Federal funds were available to 
schools for space, equipment, labor, 
or food; or for the training and 
supervision of school lunch mana- 
gers and workers. Few helps were 
available to teachers on the devel- 
i The quoted phrases in italics are from “The Community School Lunch in the 
School Program” in Education for Victory, March 15, 1943. 
l.°>4 “Come and get it!” Lunch time in a school in a low-income section of an industrial city 
opment of nutrition and health 
instruction as a part of the school 
lunch program. 
The need for assistance was so 
apparent that some agencies recog- 
nized lunch programs in schools as 
projects worthy of benefiting by 
their services. The Work Projects 
Administration contributed in 
many states by supplying thou- 
sands of workers which enabled 
hundreds of schools to initiate or 
expand their school lunch pro- 
grams. It gave, in addition, some 
training and supervision to the 
workers employed. The National 
Youth Administration, also, con- 
tributed workers and carried on a 
training program for work experi- 
ence in lunchrooms. The Surplus 
Marketing Administration (and its 
successors, the Agricultural Mar- 
keting Administration and the 
Pood Distribution Administration) 
recognized that schools were with- 
out resources for purchasing foods 
and that furnishing lunches for 
school children was as good a use 
as could be found for farm sur- 
pluses. Labor and food could not 
be used, however, without space 
and equipment. Parent-teacher as- 
135 sociations, home demonstration 
clubs, and many civic and church 
groups assisted schools through 
supplying funds for the construc- 
tion or remodeling of buildings 
and for the purchase of necessary 
equipment for school lunches. 
School people at national, State, 
and local levels as a part of their 
contribution to the National Nutri- 
tion Program have emphasized the 
educational opportunities of the 
school lunch. They have provided 
assistance in correlating school- 
feeding with classroom instruction 
through conferences and educa- 
tional materials. 
Apparently, in many places the 
needs of the school lunch program 
were being met to varying degrees 
by contributions from the sources 
mentioned above. A large number 
of schools, without doubt, would 
have been forced to discontinue 
their lunch programs had such aid 
not been extended. It has become 
increasingly difficult, however, to 
maintain active, unified coopera- 
tion among agencies and organiza- 
tions whose primary functions dif- 
fered widely from the primary 
functions of the schools. 
The success of a school lunch 
program depends in large measure 
on unity of purpose and coordina- 
tion of effort toward the achieve- 
ment of its health and educational 
objectives. In attempting to se- 
cure unity and coordination, per- 
sons interested in the development 
of a sound school lunch program 
therefore came to believe “that 
school officials and teachers are pri- 
marily responsible for initiating, 
promoting, operating, and admin- 
istering school lunch programs.” 
In many schools there are pupils 
who do not have the money to pay 
for lunches. Others receive lunches 
without cost to them. Gardens for 
school lunches are often used to 
keep these costs down. Some bring 
contributions in kind and others 
buy their lunches at cost. When 
children receiving free lunches are 
segregated and identified as under- 
privileged there is doubt whether 
the benefits to physical health off- 
set possible injuries to mental and 
emotional health. As a result of 
observations of many different 
plans and devices for meeting such 
problems, persons closely con- 
nected with school lunch programs 
believe that “school lunches should 
be provided without cost to pupils 
who cannot pay and that no pupil 
should be segregated or identified 
to other pupils because of his fail- 
ure to pay.’’ 
The school lunch program, as has 
been stated, is the concern not only 
of parents and schools but also of 
the Nation. The U. S. Office of 
Education increasingly has as- 
sumed responsibility for assisting 
school administrators in their ef- 
forts to determine the direction 
which developments in the pro- 
gram should take in order to make 
and keep it educationally sound. 
In keeping with this responsibility, 
the U. S. Commissioner of Educa- 
tion called a meeting on June 12, 
1941, of representatives from na- 
tional organizations and Govern- 
ment agencies interested in school- 
feeding programs, one result of 
which was the organization of The 
Cooperating Committee on School 
Lunches. The purpose of this com- 
mittee is “to find ways and means 
136 of organizing and maintaining the 
school lunch program so that it will 
yield greater results educationally 
to all children and all schools.” It 
has been active in promoting 
understanding and cooperation 
among the various agencies. At the 
present time the following are rep- 
resented on the committee : Ameri- 
can Red Cross, Federal Security 
Agency, Federal Works Agency, 
Office of Civilian Defense, Office of 
Price Administration, IT. S. De- 
partment of Agriculture, IT. S. De- 
partment of Labor, National Con- 
gress of Parents and Teachers. 
The School Lunch Program 
at Present 
A majority of educators, as well 
as lay people, now accept the school 
lunch as a necessary part of the 
total educational program of the 
school. Studies and observations 
made in schools, with and without 
school-feeding programs, show that 
when children are given an ade- 
quate breakfast or mid-morning 
meal when needed or provided 
with a satisfactory noon meal there 
is improvement in their health and 
in their school work, school attend- 
ance almost invariably shows 
marked improvement when atten- 
tion is given to the children’s food 
needs. Experience also shows that 
school lunches are offering excel- 
lent opportunities for nutrition 
education. 
The number of schools having 
lunch programs increased greatly 
during the five-year period ended 
in June 1943. Unfortunately—be- 
cause of wide variety in types of 
feeding provided—accurate and 
comprehensive figures are not 
available to show the extent of 
Shall we neglect our children? 
USD A photo by Forsythe 
school lunch programs in the 
schools of the Nation—now or for 
past years. Statistical comparisons, 
therefore, cannot be made. There 
is, however, abundant evidence 
that school lunch programs have 
increased in all parts of the Nation, 
both in number and in popularity. 
In the fall of 1942 efforts were 
made by the Office of Education to 
secure detailed information on the 
numbers and types of school lunch 
programs in operation. Local 
schools and State departments of 
education lacked the resources for 
the record keeping necessary to 
supply the information needed. 
Figures for 1942 from two states 
are given here—not as representa- 
tive of the national situation but of 
the few states in which extensive 
programs were underway and in 
which there was sufficient staff to 
supply this information. In Lou- 
isiana, 2,291 of the 2,678 schools 
in the state operated lunchrooms, 
serving daily 230,668 children out 
137 of a total of 462,998 pupils enrolled 
in the schools. In Virginia, 1,646 
of the 3,836 schools in the state 
operated lunchrooms; and 281,938 
children out of a total enrollment 
of 493,287 pupils were served daily. 
The growth of confidence in the 
value of school lunch programs and 
increase in the number of schools 
having some type of lunch are, un- 
fortunately, not matched by pro- 
vision of adequate public funds for 
the further development of school 
lunch programs. 
School administrators are appre- 
ciative of the aid extended to 
school lunch programs by many 
agencies and organizations during 
the years just past. They are 
aware, however, that a sound pro- 
gram cannot continue under op- 
portunistic arrangements. More- 
over there is constant fear that 
support may be withdrawn at the 
end or in the middle of the school 
year. The insecurity of the present 
situation prevents the best develop- 
ment of the program in many ways. 
There are many communities 
throughout the Nation in which 
there is need for local resources to 
be supplemented by state or by 
state and Federal financial assist- 
ance in order to secure the neces- 
sary equipment for preparing and 
serving lunches, to construct or 
remodel suitable rooms and build- 
ings, to supervise and train lunch- 
room workers—all essential ele- 
ments in a school lunch program. 
State Funds for School Lunch 
Programs 
At the present time, no Federal 
funds to be administered by Fed- 
eral and state school officials have 
been appropriated as aid for school 
lunch programs, A beginning is 
being made in some states through 
legislation authorizing or provid- 
ing for the use of school funds in 
school lunch programs. Previous 
to 1939, four states had passed leg- 
islation facilitating the develop- 
ment of school lunch programs 
through state departments of edu- 
cation. In April, 1943, replies from 
40 states, in response to a request 
for information on this point, in- 
dicated that 12 additional states 
had passed similar legislation. The 
legislation passed consisted, for the 
most part, of amendments to old 
laws or the enactment of new laws 
to allow the use of local or county 
school funds for school lunch pur- 
poses. 
The replies from the 40 states 
also indicated that state funds in 
12 states had been provided for 
school lunch purposes. Only four 
of these had secured regular ap- 
propriations through legislative 
action. Funds in the education 
budget were allocated to the school 
lunch program in three states. In 
two states, salaries and travel for 
supervisors were provided from 
the Governor’s Fund. One state 
passed a special tax to be used for 
school lunches, and another state 
secured approval from the State 
Budget Commission for allocation 
of funds for salaries and travel of 
supervisors. All of the states hav- 
ing the use of state funds include 
supervision as one of the purposes 
for which the funds can be used. 
Five states limit the use of funds 
to “supervision”; one, to “super- 
vision and equipment ’ ’; one, to 
‘1 supervision, equipment, and 
labor”; and four to “supervision, 
labor, equipment, and food.” 
138 It is apparent that in many 
states attempts are being made 
through the State Department of 
Education to lay the groundwork 
for building a good-school-directed 
lunch program. In many states, 
school officials consider that a basic 
first step is the employment of 
qualified state and district super- 
visors who can work with local com- 
munities in helping them to make 
the maximum use of their own re- 
sources. Through this type of lead- 
ership many communities are being 
helped to get their school lunch 
programs established on a perma- 
nent basis. 
In spite of all of their efforts, 
children are coming to our schools 
hungry. Because of unemployment 
or poverty or improvidence many 
homes fail to provide the amounts 
and the kinds of foods needed by 
children. Families in the “fixed 
income” groups who have medium 
and low incomes frequently are not 
able, under conditions of higher 
living costs, to supply their chil- 
dren with the food they need. The 
employment of mothers in war in- 
dustries means that thousands of 
children leave home with an inade- 
quate breakfast and take a very 
poor packed lunch or no lunch at 
all to school. The threat of physi- 
cal unfitness resulting from malnu- 
trition in these children is a prob- 
lem of serious consequence to the 
Nation. Yet only approximately 
one-third of the Nation’s schools 
are now in a position to help com- 
bat this danger. 
Future Developments 
If the schools of the Nation are 
to make their maximum contribu- 
tion toward the improvement of 
health and nutrition of children, 
progress in school lunch programs 
must be greatly accelerated. This 
means a rapid expansion in the 
number of schools providing sound 
school lunch programs. 
The success of an expanded 
school lunch program will depend 
in large measure on the extent to 
which school people (1) strengthen 
the educational aspects of the 
school lunch program, and (2) de- 
velop effective procedures for sup- 
ervision and administration. 
The problems of a school lunch 
program in any school are varied 
and difficult, but there is none that 
cannot be solved through organized 
school and community participa- 
tion. Members of school boards, 
school administrators, principals, 
teachers, pupils, parents and dis- 
trict and state supervisors working 
together can create and maintain a 
school lunch program which will 
have a permanent effect on the 
health of the children. All teach- 
ers in the school need to recognize 
the educational potentialities of the 
school lunch program, and see their 
place in working toward the 
achievement of such objectives as: 
(1) the establishment of good food 
habits, (2) the selection of food at 
school to supplement that con- 
sumed at home, (3) an understand- 
ing of the importance of preparing, 
handling, and storing food in a 
way to protect nutritive values and 
safeguard it against contamina- 
tion, (4) well established habits 
and principles in buying foods, 
(5) ability to share in the direction 
and in the work of operating the 
lunchroom, (6) interest in and 
ability to plan and grow home and 
school gardens for school lunches 
139 and to plan and carry out conser- 
vation projects for school lunches, 
and (7) an appreciation of and 
responsibility for making the lunch 
at school a pleasant social situation. 
Where parents understand the edu- 
cational objectives of the school 
they will not only be sympathetic 
toward what the school is trying to 
accomplish but will help pupils 
apply at home what they have 
learned about foods at school. 
Considerable study needs to be 
made on the ways and means which 
are most effective in capitalizing 
the educational potentialities of 
the school lunch : How the entire 
school staff can share responsibility 
efficiently, how the school can work 
most satisfactorily with the home 
and community, and how each of 
the many groups in a community 
can find opportunity for making 
its unique contribution. Successful 
experiences which schools and com- 
munities are now having need to be 
recorded in order that the elements 
of success discovered may be re- 
ported to other schools and com- 
munities. 
Experience to date has shown 
that an administratively sound 
organization for a school lunch pro- 
gram which is integrated with the 
total school program will make pro- 
vision for: (1) Representative and 
active advisory school lunch com- 
mittees on state, county, and local 
levels to promote the program and 
to bring to administrators and 
managers the viewpoints and sug- 
gestions of community groups; (2) 
school administrators who recog- 
nize and accept their responsibili- 
ties for making the school lunch a 
part of the total school program 
and who help all teachers in the 
school recognize the opportunity it 
provides for educational experi- 
ences; (3) managers and workers 
qualified to operate lunchrooms 
which meet acceptable standards in 
regard to nutrition, sanitation, se- 
lection and arrangement of equip- 
ment, and sound financial manage- 
ment; (4) teachers who recognize 
and accept appropriate responsi- 
bilities in the school lunch program 
as essential to the job of teaching; 
(5) state and district supervisors 
who are aware of the educational 
aims of the program, who have a 
thorough understanding of the op- 
portunities and limitations in vari- 
ous school situations, and who have 
the ability and the patience to work 
towards continuous progress; and 
(6) both pre-service and in-service 
training for school administrators, 
teachers, managers, and workers. 
Food Time—A Good Time at School. Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office of 
Education. School Children and the War Series Leaflet No. 4, 1943. 13 pp. 
Available from Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing 
Office, Washington, D. C. 5 cents. 
REFERENCES 
*Handbook for Workers in School-Lunch Programs with Special Reference to Vol- 
unteer Service. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Food Distribution Admin- 
istration, Washington, D. C. NFC-3. 1943. 30 pp. (Prepared under the 
direction of the Cooperating Committee on School Lunches). 
Making School Lunches Educational. Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office of 
Education. Nutrition Education Series Pamphlet No. 2, 1944. 28 pp. 
140 *School Lunch Management. (In press) Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office of 
Education. Nutrition Education Series Pamphlet No. 3. (Prepared with 
the assistance of the Cooperating Committee on School Lunches). 
School Lunch Recipes. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Human Nutri- 
tion and Home Economics. Misc. Publ. 537. 1943. 48 pp. 10 cents. 
The Road to Good Nutrition. Lydia J. Roberts, U. S. Department of Labor, Chil 
dren’s Bureau. Publication No. 270. 1942. 54 pp. 15 cents. 
* A Yardstick for School Lunches. (In press) Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office 
of Education. Nutrition Education Series Pamphlet No. 4. (Prepared by the 
Cooperating Committee on School Lunches). 
141 The School Lunch Program in 
New York State 
Assistant State Commissioner of Education 
E. R. Van Kleeck 
USD A photo by Forsythe 
A nourishing school lunch each day helps keep the doctor away 
Closest to our hearts are our 
children. Their welfare 
depends to a large degree 
on their physical well-being—on 
their health. One of the major 
factors in their health status is 
nutrition. 
By diverting to the stimulation 
of the school lunch program every 
possible share of the time of 
the Home Economics Education 
Bureau’s staff that can be spared 
from their regular work, we are 
trying to get a hot lunch or at 
least a hot dish or at the very least 
a half pint of milk per pupil served 
in as many as possible of the State’s 
6,000 school districts, of which 
about 3,500 are, despite centraliza- 
tion, still one-teacher rural schools. 
In recent years some of the 
schools have had Federal assistance 
in carrying on their lunch program. 
Until last spring this help came 
largely in two forms, first, “free” 
labor under the WPA, and second, 
142 surplus commodities. The labor 
supplied by WPA, although un- 
doubtedly often rather inefficient, 
nevertheless filled a big need in 
such tasks as peeling potatoes, 
cooking, serving, washing dishes 
and cleaning up. The surplus 
commodities, although attended by 
many unusual, not to say peculiar, 
developments, were often neverthe- 
less a godsend to the schools. It is 
true that it is said that sometimes 
a community with so many apples 
that they were rotting on the 
ground was sent apples, but on the 
other hand many children who 
otherwise never saw an orange or 
any other citrus fruit got some 
vitamins which they would other- 
wise have lacked. 
With America’s increasing 
responsibilities under lend-lease for 
shipping food abroad to our Allies, 
with the food needs of the 10 mil- 
lion men in our own armed forces, 
and with other factors which I shall 
not attempt to enumerate, surplus 
commodities are now “gone with 
the wind.” At the same time, the 
WPA is a thing of the past. 
Such was the situation that we 
faced last winter when the Legis- 
lature took a big step ahead by 
amending section 310 of the Educa- 
tion Law, so that in effect the 
expenditure by boards of educa- 
tion of local tax-raised money for 
the support of school cafeterias and 
lunches was legalized. Some of the 
school districts, I believe, were 
already including in the budgets 
approved by their voters sums to 
make up cafeteria deficits but they 
were on thin legal ice and the State 
Education Department felt that 
it had to discourage such of these 
expenditures as came to its atten- 
t ion. Also the Department which 
has to interpret the law as it is 
written rather than as we think it 
ought to be, could not, prior to the 
passage of the 1943 law to which 
1 have just referred, allow such 
expenditures in figuring state aid 
for central school districts. 
During the 1943 session of the 
State Legislature and thereafter, 
the Federal Congress was also 
struggling with related problems. 
About the tenth of last July, the 
appropriation bill for the Federal 
Department of Agriculture was 
signed, assigning 50 million dollars 
for school lunches to the Depart- 
ment’s Food Distribution Adminis- 
tration. Commissioner Stoddard 
of our Department had appointed 
a school lunch committee from the 
staff some months previously and 
as chairman of this committee, the 
writer was sent to Washington to 
see how this 50 million dollars could 
be used in our program. 
The terms of the Federal appro- 
priation bill omitted the former 
emphasis on the support of farm 
prices and on the absorption of 
surplus crop production. It stressed 
instead the improvement of the 
health of the children of the Nation 
through improved nutrition. It 
abandoned completely the distribu- 
tion of foodstuffs and substituted 
a program of financial reimburse- 
ment. In the light of this the 
handling of this program in the 
schools by the Department of Agri- 
culture might be thought peculiar 
—but that Department had the 50 
million dollars and the Congress 
had just recessed ! Since most state 
departments of education are 
under-staffed and thus ill-equipped 
143 to promote so large a program, and 
since few of the state legislatures 
were in session in July and many 
have only biennial sessions, the 
state and Federal education officials 
attempted to persuade the FDA to 
assign a tiny fraction of the 50 
million dollars to the state educa- 
tion departments for supervision. 
However we could not budge them. 
As 50 million dollars is only a 
couple of dollars per school child 
and obviously would not last very 
long at the rate of 45 cents per week 
(nine cents per day toward the so- 
called “A” type meal), and since, 
as in all such situations, the best 
organized and least needy schools 
tend to get the money first, especi- 
ally when there is little or no state- 
wide supervision, we tried to set up 
some criteria for “priorities” in 
the distribution of the fund among 
schools within each state. This 
proved impractical, however, since 
some of the standards were mutu- 
al ly contradictory and in any event 
it is scarcely possible to refuse 
money to a huge city, for example, 
with the expectation that more 
needy and less prosperous rural 
areas will ask for it a couple of 
months later. Among the states, 
the FDA agreed that the 50 million 
would be distributed largely on a 
population basis. I emphasize 
“largely” because on that basis 
New York, with a tenth of the 
Nation’s population, would get 
about five million dollars, whereas 
we were informed that our allot- 
ment would be four million. We 
worked out a gentlemen’s agree- 
ment with the State FDA, which 
organization proved extremely co- 
operative, whereby so far as pos- 
School lunch in New York City 
USDA photo by Forsythe 
sible New York’s four million dol- 
lars would be divided roughly fifty- 
fifty between New York City and 
the rest of the State. 
We in Albany had estimated last 
winter that we needed a minimum 
of five or six supervisors if we were 
really to push the school lunch 
program in the 6,000 school dis- 
tricts in this state. With no 
Federal funds for making efficient 
the use of New York’s four million 
dollars, Deputy Commissioner Wil- 
son of the Education Department 
turned to the State War Council 
and in September obtained through 
it a small sura for the employment 
of two professionals, plus one steno- 
grapher and travel. 
After detailed and harmonious 
cooperation with the State FDA, 
we worked out a “ design-for-liv- 
ing”, which was put into writing 
in the form of a memorandum-of- 
understanding executed between 
the State FDA school lunch admin- 
144 istrator and the State Education 
Department. Under this, the State 
Education Department accepted 
complete responsibility for the 
supervision of the program in the 
public schools of the State. Be- 
cause of constitutional and statu- 
tory limitations and for other rea- 
sons, the supervision of the school 
lunch program in private and paro- 
chial schools and in welfare organ- 
izations such as settlement houses 
was assigned to the FDA itself. 
The agreement provided that no 
contract between the FDA and a 
local school should be valid with- 
out the State Education Depart- 
ment’s approval. The reason for 
this is obvious: the Department 
cannot accept responsibility for the 
program if its decisions are to be 
over-ruled by a Federal group that 
has no direct responsibility for 
schools or education. It was also 
provided that where the local 
sponsor of the lunch program was 
other than the official school 
authorities, the Education Depart- 
ment would not approve the con- 
tract unless it had the written 
approval of the local school auth- 
orities. The purpose of this was to 
prevent an over-enthusiastic local 
group from “going over the head” 
of the local board of education, 
which, after all, has statutory 
responsibility for and control over 
what goes on in its schools. We 
drew up this and similar sections 
with the thought in mind that clear, 
advance understandings on such 
matters tend to avoid a great many 
future headaches, and it has worked 
out that way. We have not found 
it necessary to turn down a single 
application so far, and the program 
is operating in approximately 650 
schools outside of New York City, 
serving approximately 108,000 
children, besides those in New York 
City. I except New York City 
since the program there includes 
public and private and parochial 
schools and welfare organizations 
and is not solely under the jurisdic- 
tion of the city board of education. 
The memorandum of understand- 
ing with the FDA has attracted 
considerable attention from certain 
other states and from the Council 
of State Governments and from the 
U. S. Office of Education. 
A total of 650 schools sounds like 
a large number until one realizes 
that there are roughly 10 times that 
number of school districts in the 
State. A total of 108,000 children 
seems a substantial number until 
one sees that this is only about a 
tenth of the public school children 
outside New York City. The 
detailed administration of the 
school lunch program by the Educa- 
tion Department was, under our 
memorandum of understanding, 
assigned to our Bureau of Home 
Economics Education. Perhaps 
therefore I as one not a member of 
that Bureau may be permitted to 
evaluate it and to say that in my 
opinion quite remarkable progress 
has been made by the Bureau, con- 
sidering the late date of the Federal 
appropriation, the subsequent delay 
and the small staff which we have. 
At the same time, there is no use 
blinking at the facts: The surface 
of the problem has only been 
scratched. Of course, as I pre- 
viously indicated, besides the feder- 
ally-assisted program, many of the 
other schools have school cafeterias 
or lunch programs or hot dish pro- 
grams or serve milk. The total of 
145 these may be three or four times 
the federally-aided number. The 
picture shifts rapidly. 
Now what are the next moves? 
You have in mind that we do not 
have the WPA labor or the surplus 
commodities. On the other hand, 
the legislation making it possible 
for boards of education to use local 
funds has been passed. Also, 
Federal funds have been made 
available. We still do not have 
anywhere near the necessary per- 
sonnel to promote school lunches, 
to supervise them, to aid in menu 
planning and the like. Moreover, 
the boards of education are feeling 
the financial pinch more all the 
time. Although Commissioner 
Stoddard in a circular letter and 
also in his message to the annual 
school district meetings last May 
advertised this new law, boards of 
education do not appear to have 
done much about it in their current 
budgets. This is understandable, 
because attendance has fallen so 
greatly in the schools of the State 
that State aid is now down some 
eight millions of dollars, while at 
the same time the cost of practically 
every type of goods and services 
used by the schools has gone up and 
Federal taxation has made tax 
resistance on the local level con- 
siderably greater. If we are to 
expand lunch programs, the schools, 
especially in poorer communities, 
Apples, soup and other foodstuffs for school lunches on a three-way conveyor in a 
central kitchen, leading to a loading platform. A fleet of 717 trucks carries this food 
to 717 New York City schools 
146 must have more state aid. I say 
‘ ‘ especially in the poorer com- 
munities” because it is the poorer, 
not the richer, communities which 
need the greater State aid, and that 
is the basis upon which we have 
been operating in this State since 
1925, in distributing State aid for 
schools. 
The FDA reimbursement is gen- 
erous in my judgment, the red tape 
has been amazingly simplified, the 
contract between the FDA and the 
local sponsor is a brief and uncom- 
plicated document, and the 
monthly FDA report is so simple 
that among Federal forms it is 
practically unique! Schools that 
cannot swing the so-called “com- 
plete ’ ’ lunch and get the nine cents 
per meal may get six cents a meal 
for a less nearly complete lunch. 
Those which cannot or will not 
manage this can get two cents per 
serving of milk. To prevent humi- 
liating discrimination among child- 
ren and to encourage financially the 
improvement of the lunch and its 
serving to many more pupils, the 
FDA office “subsidizes”—do I 
dare use that word?—at the rate 
of nine or six or two cents for each 
pupil served in the school concern- 
ed, whether or not he is able to pay 
all or part or none of the cost of the 
lunch. This is such a good proposi- 
tion that we have difficulty in 
getting the schools to understand it, 
for what it means is that if a school 
feeds 1,000 children the complete 
meal daily and collects, say 15 
cents from each of 800 of the 1,000 
children who are able to pay this 
amount plus a nickel apiece from 
another 100 children who are able 
to pay that much but no more, plus 
nothing from the remaining 100, its 
Federal reimbursement is nine 
cents times the full 1,000 children 
per day and not nine cents times 
the 100 “free” children. Its daily 
reimbursement from the FDA is 
$90, not $9. 
What then is holding us back? 
I have already indicated several 
deterrents, namely loss of free 
labor, loss of surplus commodities, 
insufficient promotional staff, and 
the perplexing financial problems 
of the local school districts. If I 
am to give a full picture I should 
not omit mention of two other 
handicaps. The first of these is 
that the experience of the schools 
of the State and the Nation with 
some of the Federal agencies has 
not been an entirely happy one. 
The adjective “Federal” is there- 
fore somewhat less than an asset 
in promoting this program. 
The other reason goes much 
deeper. School people and especi- 
ally school boards tend as a whole 
to be somewhat individualistic. 
Whether rightly or wrongly, some 
school authorities seem to object to 
the basic philosophy involved in 
Federal grants for school lunches. 
They say that Federal control will 
follow. They do not want Federal 
control. They say that these 
lunches will make children “de- 
pendent” on the Federal Govern- 
ment. They are opposed to this 
on principle. Many others do not 
say these things but there is 
evidence that they nevertheless 
think them. 
Many thousands of New York 
State school children eat their mid- 
day meal in the vestibules of their 
little one-teacher schools or crowd- 
ed around the stove, or in the cor- 
147 Small wonder he’s smiling. That’s nourishing milk he’s drinking 
ridors or “basements” of their 
schools. Thousands of others go 
home to empty houses, for often 
both parents are out working. And 
what do many thousands of these 
boys and girls drink? Milk? Our 
data shows that many of them, even 
in rural districts, get no milk at 
noon and have had none all day 
when they go to bed at night. 
No, they do not have the daily 
quart of milk or the two servings 
of vegetables and the two servings 
of fruit, or the three or four eggs 
weekly which we know their grow- 
ing bodies need. But here is what 
some of them have eaten for lunch : 
First, a lunch made up of only cold 
pancakes; second, a lunch consist- 
ing solely of salt pork and sausages; 
third, a lunch the only item of 
which is a cold potato; fourth, a 
lunch made up entirely of cold 
potato sandwich; another of pie 
only, another of doughnuts only, 
another of cake and frankfurters; 
another of candy and ice cream 
only. 
An eye-witness report by our 
staff states: 
“In a large central school I saw 
a first grader with plain bread and 
no butter or other filling. Other 
children around her had soup, 
milk, fruit, and other foods. The 
148 teacher said the child’s parents 
would accept no free food and 
could not pay.” 
That is one side of the picture. 
It does not have to be that way. 
Another report declares: 
‘‘One stove, small sink and 
worktable in an old storeroom. 
Elderly, kindhearted, motherly 
woman with help of children pre- 
pares a complete lunch. A table 
on wooden horses is set up in hall 
each day, and children come for 
food and eat in nearby classrooms. 
Children pay 40c a week for an A 
lunch. They had baked potatoes, 
creamed dried beef with corn, 
whole wheat bread and butter, 
canned peaches and milk. All 
had the same good food. Teachers 
were with children while eating. 
Help was given to young children. 
The ‘slow’ eaters were encour- 
aged. The children cleared the 
rooms, stacked the dishes, brought 
them back to the kitchen, helped 
with the dishes. A good lunch can 
be achieved with little equipment 
and expense if there is some one 
who has had the guidance to see 
the possibilities.” 
I leave it up to you which situa- 
tion we shall approve and, more 
importantly, which situation we 
shell 1 support. 
149 The School Lunch Bill of the U. S. Office 
of Education—Federal Security Agency 
The following Statement was presented to Committee on Agriculture, 
United States House of Representatives, by John W. Studebaker, U. S. 
Commissioner of Education, at hearing on Tuesday, February 15 1944. 
A. Major Features of the 
Proposed Bill 
1. It provides for a Federal ap- 
propriation of $50,000,000. 
2. It provides that school lunch 
programs be administered by the 
respective states through their 
regularly constituted educational 
authorities. 
3. It provides that the State 
educational authorities formulate 
well-conceived plans for adminis- 
School lunches are building better minds, bodies and nerves in our children 
USDA photo by Forsythe 
150 tering the school lunch programs 
within the county, city, and local 
school districts, and requires that 
such plans provide for efficient 
operation, for compliance with 
standards of safety, andffor use of 
community school-lunch resources. 
4. It provides that Federal funds 
for aiding school lunch programs 
shall be available to any public 
or non-profit elementary or high 
school which fulfills the conditions 
agreed upon in the State plan. 
5. It provides that not less than 
30 per cent of the total school lunch 
costs for the first fiscal year in 
which the program operates in any 
given State be supplied from State, 
county, or local sources, and that 
thereafter Federal school lunch 
funds be matched dollar for dollar. 
6. It provides that Federal funds 
be allotted to the states in propor- 
tion to two factors: (1) the ratio 
of the number of children per state, 
5 to 17 years inclusive, to the num- 
ber of adults, 20 to 64 inclusive, 
and (2) the total number of child- 
ren 5 to 17. 
7. It provides that not more than 
$10,000 or 3 per cent of the state’s 
allotment, whichever is the greater, 
may be used by the state for admin- 
istrative purposes, including super- 
visory services and the training of 
personnel. 
8. It provides that no more than 
20 per cent of the expenditures for 
a given year shall be for items other 
than food. 
9. It provides that all Federal 
school lunch funds shall channel 
through the XL S. Office of Educa- 
tion, Federal Security Agency, 
as the appropriate Government 
agency charged with carrying on 
Federal relationships with the 
school authorities of the several 
states. 
10. It provides that priority 
shall be given to the purchase of 
foods designated by the U. S. 
Department of Agricultural to be 
in surplus; it provides also that 
the Office of Education shall look 
to that Department for data and 
recommendations in the field of 
nutrition and shall make such data 
and recommendations available to 
the schools. 
A 
B. Major Differences Between 
the Proposed Plan and the 
Existing School Lunch Aid 
Program 
1. The proposed hill provides 
that the school lunch program shall 
be administered by states through 
the regularly constituted state and 
local educational authorities. 
The existing plan is administered 
by the U. S. Government through 
the Department of Agriculture 
which performs this task through 
either its regular sub-divisional 
agencies—regional, State, and local 
—or through personnel especially 
appointed for this purpose. 
2. The proposed hill would make 
the school lunch a regular and 
permanent part of the school serv- 
ice ; under it the school authorities 
would know definitely what they 
can count on, thus enabling them 
to plan effectively to provide such 
essentials to a successful program 
as personnel, building space, equip- 
ment, accounting systems, and the 
best use of community resources. 
The existing plan, which grew 
out of the distribution of surplus 
farm products and for which funds 
now are provided through an 
151 amendment to an agricultural 
marketing act, has naturally chang- 
ed with farm marketing conditions. 
Further changes are likely as occa- 
sion demands, thus making a 
definite and permanent school 
lunch program most difficult of 
achievement. 
3. In the proposed hill the 
amounts allocated to each state are 
definitely fixed according to a 
formula based upon the number of 
children to be fed at school and the 
relative burden of feeding such 
children per adult producer. 
The existing plan permits wide 
discretion to the Food Distribution 
Administrator in the important 
task of dividing the Federal funds 
among the states, thus making it 
difficult for the school authorities 
to know what to count on from time 
to time, and placing uncertain 
authority over a part of the school 
program in the hands of the Fed- 
eral Government. 
4. The proposed hill provides for 
maximum participation in the 
school lunch program by requiring 
that during the first year state, 
county, or local school districts 
shall provide 30 per cent of the 
cost, and that thereafter they shall 
match the Federal funds on a dollar 
for dollar basis. 
The■ existing plan makes no such 
uniform provision for State or com- 
munity participation in the Feder- 
ally supported school lunch pro- 
gram. East meets West over a bottle of milk, part of their school lunch 
Need For A Revised School Lunch 
Program 
Paul V. McNutt 
Administrator, Federal Security Administratior 
The need for Federal aid in 
providing a noon lunch at 
school to every child need- 
ing it arises out of a number of 
basic reasons. 
Many thousands of school child- 
ren always have had and now have 
an insufficient supply of food—in- 
sufficient either in quantity or in 
essential nutritional elements, or 
both. Children come to school 
hungry because, due to poverty, un- 
employment or improvidence, their 
homes fail to provide sufficient food 
or the right kind of food from a 
nutritional standpoint. In cases 
where mothers are employed out- 
side the home the children fre- 
quently come to school with an in- 
adequate breakfast and with a 
lunch entirely. A lunch at school 
is necessary if such children are 
to secure the maximum benefits 
from their instruction and if mal- 
153 nutrition with its many serious 
effects upon mind and body is to 
be prevented. 
Without financial aid from the 
Federal Government a compara- 
tively small proportion of schools 
are providing or can provide noon 
lunches for all children needing 
them. Contrary to ideas commonly 
held by the public, fewer than one 
school in three now provides school 
lunch services. 
Formerly funds for school milk 
and school lunches have been made 
available to a limited extent by 
appropriations to the Department 
of Agriculture under section 32 of 
Public Law 320, 74th Congress. 
This program was primarily de- 
signed as an aid in the disposal of 
surplus commodities. As I under- 
stand the present proposals under 
the program, indemnity payments 
would be made by the Department 
to local schools or approved spon- 
soring organizations for the local 
purchase of commodities used for 
the lunches. Formerly the Works 
Project Administration assisted in 
this work by providing adminis- 
trative and technical help, but with 
the abandonment of that organiza- 
tion’s program this burden now 
falls directly upon the schools. 
It is my feeling that a program 
for school lunches and nutrition in- 
struction should be considered basi- 
cally as a part of the educational 
facilities and services to be furn- 
ished by our schools rather than as 
an adjunct to Government activi- 
ties in unemployment relief and 
the distribution of surplus agri- 
cultural commodities. 
If the program is to operate effec- 
tively it must achieve a position of 
stability and local control so that 
it may secure and train school 
lunch managers, set up adequate 
accounting systems, find or con- 
struct suitable rooms for school 
lunch purposes, provide certain 
essential items of equipment and 
make the best possible use of com- 
munity school lunch resources. 
Efficiency of school lunch operation, 
sanitary considerations, and the 
potential contribution to the in- 
structional programs are of such 
far-reaching importance that they 
must not be made subject to such 
frequently changing programs as 
public relief and agricultural 
marketing. 
The school lunch should, I be- 
lieve, become an integral part of 
the schools’ instructional program. 
Important subjects like the proper 
selection and eating of food have 
such significant consequences in 
health that they must become a 
matter of daily concern to the 
school. Moreover, instruction in 
such fields as health education, 
home economics, agriculture, nutri- 
tion education and many others can 
obviously be made more realistic 
by utilizing the activities involving 
planning, supplying, and serving 
school lunches. If the program is 
integrated with the instructional 
facilities of the schools, the well- 
established relationships between 
the United States Office of Educa- 
tion and local school systems may 
be effectively employed in produc- 
ing stability and economy of opera- 
tion. 
154 Our 
I )aily Bread 
PART IV 
CONSOLIDATED REPORT 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT LEGISLATIVE 
COMMITTEE 
ON 
NUTRITION Introduction 
Thomas Parran 
United States Surgeon General 
The science of nutrition has 
made phenomenal advances 
in the past three decades and 
especially in the past 10 years. As 
a part of the war effort, adequate 
nutrition is receiving much atten- 
tion because of the all-important 
part food can play in winning the 
war. Obviously efforts to improve 
nutritional status should be direct- 
ed towards both the home front 
and the battle front. It is to the 
credit of our age and our leaders 
that the most recent advances have 
been utilized so extensively in seek- 
ing to improve the dietary in this 
country. 
Every effort is being made to 
disseminate the basic knowledge 
about food to the public. It has 
been amply demonstrated in the 
last few years that varying degrees 
of malnutrition exist in a signifi- 
cant proportion of our population. 
In order to maintain maximal effici- 
ency in war production, the morale 
and the health of all people should 
be kept at the highest possible level. 
This may be accomplished in part 
by making available a nutritionally 
adequate diet. 
Nature puts into the foods we 
eat the vital elements necessary for 
balanced health. Many of these 
elements have been depleted 
through our zeal for over-refining 
and by improper cooking methods. 
Many of our commonly used foods 
have been refined to conform to the 
dictates of choice, even though such 
a process results in the loss of nutri- 
Enriched bread is building a healthier 
America 
tive value. For example, the diets 
of many Americans contain less of 
the B vitamins than recommended. 
With the approval of the 
National Research Council, the 
millers and bakers decided to add 
certain important nutrients to 
white flour and bread. Our grain 
supply assures us of plenty of 
bread, flour and cereal products to 
provide an abundant, economical, 
and nutritious food for our daily 
diet. Bread is eaten at almost 
every meal by most people. There- 
fore, the enrichment of white flour 
and bread appreciably improves 
the national dietary. The enrich- 
ment program provides for the 
addition of thiamin, niacin, ribo- 
flavin and iron to white flour and 
bread. Calcium and vitamin D 
may be added optionally. These 
additions to bread and white flour 
thus restore the most important of 
the vitamins and minerals lost in 
the refining process. 
157 Four states have passed laws 
requiring the enrichment of all 
white flour sold. 
Many of the milling companies 
are voluntarily enriching their 
products, thus making available to 
all the opportunity of purchasing 
an enriched white flour. 
The enrichment of bread and 
white flour is one of the most im- 
portant of our war time actions in 
the food field. It is one of the 
accomplishments of government, 
science and industry which should 
go a long way toward relieving 
man of many of the ill effects of 
malnutrition, either manifest or 
hidden. The goal should be 
optimal nutrition for all, now and 
in the future, and for the whole 
world as well as for this country, 
I am confident that the goal is 
possible to achieve in the not too 
distant future. 
158 Bread—Your New “Perfect Food” 
Chairman, New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Nutrition 
Thomas C. Desmond 
“ ake mine on white.” 
VI take rye.” 
Whole wheat for me.” 
Whether it’s in bakeries, diners 
or the corner grocery, the increas- 
ing demand for bread is being met 
—and will be met. 
No headlines shouting ‘‘BREAD 
RATIONED” will be seen in our 
newspapers, insofar as we can pre- 
sently determine; for America, 
though short of meat and butter 
and other foods, is blessed with 
fertile fields of golden grain. 
Heaped in our granaries and 
sown on our farms are enough 
wheat to enable ns not only to meet 
our own needs but also to ship tons 
of the precious life-giving grains 
to our allies. 
Although we do not have as com- 
fortable a supply of shortening and 
sugar, needed for making loaves of 
flavor-full bread, leaders of the 
baking industry estimate that we 
will have enough to keep on turn- 
ing out the millions of loaves 
America wants. 
Sandwiches of enriched white bread on the lunch box assembly line 
159 Consumption Soars 
Bread consumption is leaping 
upward dramatically. In 1941 we 
ate 10 million loaves of bread; in 
1942, 12V2 million; in 1943 approxi- 
mately 14 million loaves of bread. 
Part of this increase is due to 
large amount of bread consumed 
by the Army. While the average 
American eats six slices of bread 
a day, the boys in the armed forces 
average eight or nine slices. House- 
wives, confronted with food short- 
ages, are using bread as “extend- 
ers.” Families which hitherto 
lived on marginal diets and are 
now earning large salaries in war 
plants are buying all the bread 
they want. 
The Bread of Our Fathers 
Bread has been a favorite food 
for thousands of years. Bread- 
making is one of the oldest arts. 
The calcined remains of bread 
made from coarsely ground grain 
have been found dating back to the 
Stone Age. Egyptians were especi- 
ally adept at bread-baking al- 
though they were in the habit of 
kneading dough with their feet! 
Slaves and criminals were used 
by the ancient Romans and Greeks 
to aid the public bakers in grind- 
ing grain. And woe to the baker 
who charged excessive prices or 
sold an inferior product. The 
penalty in Constantinople as 
recently as the 1700’s was often 
hanging; and in Turkey and Egypt 
there was the quaint penalty of 
nailing bakers by their ears to the 
door-posts of their shops. 
Even in our own country dur- 
ing the early days of its growth, 
bakers came under rigid control as 
to price and sanitation. 
The Miracle of Enrichment 
But there was no need then to 
fortify our bread with vitamins 
and minerals, for like the bread 
that mother baked it was made 
from coarsely ground wheat, and 
was rich in essential nutrients. 
However, at the turn of the 20th 
century, mills ground our dour so 
finely that it was robbed of import- 
ant food elements. 
Bread enrichment, which is to- 
day beginning to build a healthier 
America, had its origin just before 
we entered World War I, when 
Professor E. V. McCollum, of Johns 
Hopkins University, one of the 
founders of the modern science of 
nutrition, discovered in wheat 
germ an antineuritic substance 
which he called vitamin B. Other 
scientists carried forward his ini- 
tial findings, and by 1922, it was 
definitely known that nearly 90 
per cent of the B vitamin was 
ground out of our white flour! 
Surveys in the early 1930’s 
clearly indicated that more than a 
third of non-relief families were 
living on poor diets. Large num- 
bers of Americans, examinations 
showed, were suffering from a defi- 
ciency of B vitamins, a lack of 
which produces fatigue, nervous- 
ness, depression and in many clini- 
cal cases, pellagra and beri-beri. 
As the shadows of impending 
war lengthened over our country 
in 1940. the bakers of America, 
at the recommendation of Surgeon 
General Thomas Parran, Jr., pled- 
ged their cooperation to fortify our 
vitamin-stripped bread. Action 
came rapidly. By the end of 1941. 
one-third of our white bread was 
enriched ; a year later, nearly three- 
fourths was enriched. 
1 GO In January, 1943, Uncle Sam 
made enriched white bread compul- 
sory. But progress did not stop 
there. Ten months later, the Fed- 
eral Government raised the enrich- 
ment standards so that today our 
white bread is full of beneficial 
vitamins and minerals. Today, six 
slices of white bread furnishes you 
the following amounts of your 
daily requirement of essential food 
elements: 
40 per cent of Vitamin Bi (thia- 
mine)—the vitamin required 
for normal appetite, normal 
intestinal activity, normal 
function of the nervous sys- 
tem. 
30 per cent of Iron—needed to 
make good red blood and pre- 
vent nutritional anemia. 
l(i per cent of niaeine—the vita- 
min that aids in the preven- 
tion of pellagra. 
13 per cent of vitamin B2 (ribo- 
flavin)—the vitamin that is 
needed for general health and 
vitality, and to prevent lesi- 
ons about the mouth and face. 
Enrichment is a simple process 
for bakers. Four main methods are 
used: (1) use of enriched flour; 
(2) addition of special yeast rich 
in the B complex; (3) use of syn- 
thetic vitamins in tablet form; and 
(4) a combination of these three. 
Already the results of the enrich- 
ment program are apparent. Dr. 
Norman Joliffe, of the New York 
University College of Medicine, 
reveals that cases of beri-beri and 
pellagra have decreased “marked- 
ly and unmistakably” in the wards 
of Bellevue Hospital. Only one- 
fourth as many patients with full- 
blown beri-beri and only one-third 
as many pellagra patients are seen 
now in the wards of this hospital. 
Dr. Jolliffe attributes the decrease 
to the bread enrichment program. 
Dess dramatic but more import- 
ant is the effect of the enriched 
bread upon the millions of our 
people suffering not a clinical dis- 
ease but from “hidden hunger.” 
“But what sense is there in first 
stripping our bread of vitamins 
and then restoring them?” you 
ask. Millers answer that changes 
in milling require large sums of 
money, that our people would not 
like bread that does not have the 
desired “whiteness.” They point 
to the fact that despite the urgings 
of nutritionists over a long period 
of years, 90 per cent of the bread 
consumed in our country is white 
bread. 
Bread of Other Countries 
Well may America be thankful 
for its bountiful supply of health- 
ful, tasty bread. England, for 
example, requires consumption of a 
National Wheat Meal Loaf which 
is much more nutritious than its 
prewar bread but still doesn’t come 
up to the standards of our enriched 
bread and is tasteless. Mrs. Frank- 
lin D. Roosevelt, upon her return 
from a trip to England last year, 
informed me that while the English 
dark bread is good, our soldiers 
there “do not like it and won’t eat 
it.” 
And Norwegians under the Quis- 
lings, are forced to eat a soggy, 
dark bread of unknown nutritional 
standards, but so full of husks as 
to be almost inedible. Norwegians 
say it must be made of wood cellu- 
lose. 
161 Bread of the Future 
Not content with the amazing 
progress we are making in develop- 
ment of bread, government officials, 
scientists and bakers are studying 
the possibilities of a postwar bread 
that will compete with milk for the 
title of “The perfect food.” This 
bread of the future may contain 
at least 6 per cent milk solids, 5 to 
10 per cent of soybean flour, super- 
charged B complex yeast, in addi- 
tion to the present contents of 
bread. 
Tips for Housewives 
When I asked bakers what tips 
they had for American housewives 
they mentioned these five as being 
most important: 
1. Read bread labels closely. 
When you buy “wheat bread,” you 
are not getting “whole wheat 
bread,” but rather wheat flour 
mixed with white flour. 
2. If you bake your own bread, 
mix soybean flour with white flour. 
This will improve the bread’s 
flavor, texture and health-value. 
3. Don’t buy too much bread. 
America wastes an enormous 
amount of bread. If your bread 
becomes stale, dry it out still more 
some day when you have the oven 
on; make bread crumbs, or dry 
bread dice. To refresh the entire 
loaf, at night, when you have fin- 
ished the dishes, take a clean tea 
towel, make it quite damp, and 
then wrap it around the entire loaf; 
in the morning you will be elated 
to find hoAV moist it has become. 
4. Cool home-baked bread before 
storing in well ventilated box. In 
warm climate, keep bread from 
moulding by wrapping it in mois- 
tureproof paper and putting it in 
refrigerator. 
5. Corn bread and rye bread, 
contrary to popular conception, are 
not as nutritious as enriched white 
bread. 
And what advice do our doctors 
have for us in guiding our bread- 
eating habits? The medical men 
say that bread may well supply at 
least 40 per cent of the calories in 
our daily diets; this means from 
six to eight slices of bread daily. 
They caution us that we cannot get 
all the nutrients we need by stuf- 
fing ourselves with bread, but point 
out that bread, eaten as part of a 
balanced diet, is not fattening. 
Bread, one of our best and cheap- 
est sources of essential food energy, 
has again become, in truth, the 
staff of life. Helping to ease our 
tired muscles, stimulating our ap- 
petite, curbing us from moody slug- 
gishness, enriched bread is giving 
us gradually the power we need for 
modern living. 
Soya Bread 
3 c. soya flour 
9 c. sifted all-purpose enriched flour 
4 c. milk 
1 c. lukewarm water 
5 tbsp. sugar 
5 tsp. salt 
5 tbsp. shortening 
2 cakes yeast 
The soya flour in this recipe is 
not sifted before measuring. Stir 
flours together, and proceed as fol- 
lows : Scald the 4 cups of milk, and 
to it add the sugar and salt. Dis- 
solve yeast with 1 cup lukewarm 
water and to it add 1 teaspoon su- 
gar. Let stand for 10 minutes. 
When the 4 cups of milk have 
cooled, add dissolved yeast to milk 
162 mixture. Next add flour and the 
softened shortening. Mix well and 
turn out on a floured board. Knead 
until dough becomes elastic and 
does not stick to board. Place in a 
greased bowl, cover, allow to rise 
until double in bulk, then punch 
down. Allow to rise a second time 
until double in bulk. Remove bread 
from bowl, punch dough down, and 
cut into four equal size loaves. 
Shape, cover, and allow to stand 20 
min, on baking board. 
Then flatten out each loaf and 
again reshape. Place in greased 
pans. Allow to rise until double in 
bulk, or until, when pressed with a 
finger, the imprint does not disap- 
pear. Bake in a preheated 350° 
oven for 1 hour. This recipe makes 
approximately four V/2 pound 
loaves. 
NOTE : Before placing bread in 
oven to bake, sprinkle top of un- 
baked bread lightly with lukewarm 
water. This gives a more even 
browning to the bread, and also 
makes the top crust much softer. 
Always remove the bread imme- 
diately from the pans after finish- 
ing baking. Otherwise, the bottom 
crust is apt to become soggy, and 
the texture of the baked bread is 
not so nice. It is suggested that 
bread cool on wire cake coolers. 
White Bread 
Straight Dough Method 
About 13 c. all-purpose enriched flour 
(sifted before measuring) 
4 c. milk 
1 c. lukewarm water 
5 tbsp. sugar 
5 tsp. salt 
5 tbsp. shortening 
2 cakes quick-acting yeast 
1 extra tsp. sugar 
Scald milk, add the sugar and 
salt. Dissolve the yeast in the luke- 
warm water, add extra teaspoon 
sugar, let stand for 10 min. When 
milk has cooled, add dissolved 
yeast. Next add dour, and softened 
shortening.. Mix well and turn out 
on floured board. Knead dough un- 
til elastic and it does not stick to 
board. Place in greased bowl, cover, 
and allow to rise until double in 
bulk, then punch down. Let rise a 
second time until doubled. Remove 
dough from bowl, punch down, and 
cut into 4 equal size loaves. 
Shape, cover, and allow to stand 
20 min. on baking board. Then 
flatten out each loaf and again re- 
shape. Place in greased pans. 
Allow to rise until double in bulk, 
or until, when pressed with finger, 
the imprint does not disappear. 
Bake 1 hour in preheated 350° 
oven. Makes approximately four 
l1 pound loaves. 
103 FSA photo by Lee 
Our Daily Bread 
Drs. W. L. Nelson and L. A. Maynard 
School of Nutrition, Cornell University 
Over twelve billion pounds of 
bread are eaten in this 
country every year. It is 
a cheap food which contributes 
largely to the calorie and protein 
needs of the diet. When enriched 
or made from whole grains, it sup- 
plies important amounts of certain 
vitamins and minerals as well. The 
principal ingredient of bread is 
flour, and thus the best starting 
point in its discussion is the flour 
from which it is made. 
Wheal Flour 
Most all of the bread consumed 
in this country is made with wheat 
flour. The nutritive value of flour 
is dependent to a considerable 
extent on the amount of the total 
wheat berry which is included in its 
manufacture. A whole wheat flour 
is referred to as a high or long 
extraction flour and contains from 
90 to 95 per cent of the whole grain, 
while patent flour or white flour 
is a low or short extraction flour 
containing 70 per cent or less of 
the whole grain. Whole wheat 
flour contains nearly all of the 
nutrients of the wheat berry. The 
stone-ground flour of a century ago, 
though including much less of the 
bran, and thus nearly white in 
164 color, contained concentrations of 
the vitamins and minerals com- 
parable with those of the whole 
grain. This is far from the case 
for flour as now milled, as is shown 
by the data in Table I. 
Table I. Thiamine and Riboflavin in the Products of Commercial Wheat Milliner 
Thiamine 
Riboflavin 
Mill Product 
mg./lb. 
mg./lb. 
Cleaned wheat 
2 2 
0.45 
Patent flour 
0.32 
0.15 
First clear 
1.20 
0.28 
Second clear 
3.76 
0.84 
Red Dog 
11.74 
1.72 
Shorts 
8.03 
1.28 
Bran 
3.1)0 
1.28 
Patent flour contains about 15 
per cent of the thiamine and 35 
per cent of the riboflavin of the 
original wheat, the remainder go- 
ing into the by-products fed to 
animals for the most part. The 
present enrichment program for 
flour and bread was adopted for 
the purpose of making good these 
losses. 
A comparison of the nutritive 
value of whole wheat, white, and 
enriched white Hours are given in 
T*able II. The values for thiamine, 
riboflavin, niacin, and iron are the 
minimum requirements of the Food 
and Drug Administration for this 
product. According to the indus- 
try, most of the family flour now 
on the market is thus enriched. 
Table II. Nutrients in Whole Wheat, White, and Enriched White Flours 
Nutrient 
Whole Wheat 
White 
Enriched White 
Calories, per 11) 
360.00 
340.00 
340.00 
Protein, per cent 
13.00 
10.80 
10.80 
Niacin, mg./lb 
25.00 
3.50 
16.00 
Thiamine, mg./lb 
2.20 
0.35 
2.00 
Iron, mg./lb 
18.00 
3.00 
13.00 
Riboflavin, mg./lb 
0.50 
0.15 
1.20 
Calcium, mg./lb 
150.00 
90.80 
90.80* 
* 500 mg. is an optional level for enrichment. 
Whole wheat flour is slightly 
higher in calories and substantially 
higher in protein than the other 
flours, but here questions of digesti- 
bility and biological value enter, 
as is discussed later. The larger 
differences occur with respect to 
minerals and vitamins. The rela- 
tively low values shown for white 
flour as compared to whole wheat 
represent milling losses. Flour 
meeting the enrichment standards, 
however, very nearly equals whole 
wheat in niacin, thiamine, and iron 
content and contains over twice 
as much riboflavin. So far as is 
known to the writers, none of the 
enriched flour now on the market 
is enriched with calcium in accord- 
ance with the option referred to 
in the footnote of the table, and 
thus contains considerably less of 
this mineral than does whole wheat 
flour. 
165 The data in Table II represent 
only those nutrients which various 
surveys of the average American 
diet have indicated to be present 
in insufficient amounts to assure 
optimum nutrition. They do not, 
therefore, serve as an indication 
of the absolute measure of the 
nutritive value of the flours being 
compared. For example, whole 
wheat flour contains much more 
phosphorus and other minerals 
than do the white products. But 
the data show the relative value of 
these products in furnishing those 
nutrients that are thought to be 
needed in greater amounts in the 
average American diet. 
Some studies have been made on 
the various flours derived from 
wheat in order to evaluate the 
various nutrients in terms of 
human utilization. The proteins of 
whole wheat have been shown to be 
slightly less digestible, but of a 
higher biological value than those 
derived from white flour. These 
studies have shown, therefore, that 
the body actually utilizes for 
growth and repair the proteins of 
whole wheat more efficiently than 
those derived from white flours. 
Experiments indicate that calcium 
utilization is impaired somewhat 
in whole wheat flour, compared 
with white. Conflicting evidence 
exists as to the relative utilization 
of iron in the two products. It is 
generally accepted that the vit- 
amins of both flours are equally 
well utilized by the body. The 
results of feeding experiments car- 
ried out on both laboratory animals 
and man indicate that whole wheat 
flour greatly excells unenriched 
white flour in nutritive value, as is 
to be expected from its superior- 
nutrient composition, 
“Canada Approved” Flour 
The Canadian Government, in- 
stead of adopting a program of 
enrichment to improve white flour, 
is urging the use of ‘ ‘ Canada ap- 
proved” flours which through 
modifications in the milling process 
retain much more of the vitamins 
and minerals than is the case for 
patent flour. The product repre- 
sents an approximate 78 per cent 
extraction. It is nearly white and 
makes an excellent bread. It is 
officially named, “Vitamin B white 
flour (Canada approved).” It 
must contain per pound “not less 
than 400 I U (1.2 mg.) of vitamin 
Bi with the other members of the 
vitamin B complex in the quantity 
associated with this amount of 
vitamin Bx in the wheat from which 
the flour was produced.” A type of 
whole wheat product officially 
named “Vitamin B flour (Canada 
approved)” is required to contain 
not less than 500 I. U. (1.5 mg.) of 
vitamin Bi per pound. Reports in- 
dicate that the consumer accept- 
ance of “Canada approved” 
vitamin B white flour is good, 
although its use is limited thus far. 
British Wartime Wheat Flour 
The United Kingdom has adopt- 
ed a uniform wheat flour of 85 
per cent extraction. To this flour 
two pounds of skim milk powder, 
seven ounces of calcium carbonate 
(creta praeparata) and, at various 
times, barley or a mixture of groats 
(dehulled oats) and barley have 
been added. The resultant flour 
is referred to as National flour. 
1G6 It has been found to contain on the 
average, 11.3 per cent protein, and 
vitamins and minerals per pound as 
follows: 0.70 mg. of riboflavin, 1.32 
mg. of thiamine, 8.0 mg. of niacin, 
217 mg. of calcium, 10 mg. of iron. 
Experiments indicate that the 
protein of National flour is inter- 
mediate in biological value be- 
tween whole wheat flour and white 
patent flour. Compared with en- 
riched flour meeting the U. S. 
minimum enrichment standards 
(Table II) it contains somewhat 
less niacin, thiamine, riboflavin 
and iron, but more calcium and 
protein. 
Other Flours 
Soybean flour is now being used 
in combination with wheat flour to 
increase the nutritive value of 
baked products. The nutritive 
value of soybean flour is compared 
with wiiole wheat and white iu 
Table III. 
Nutrient 
Whole Wheat 
White 
Soybean 
high fat 
* 
low fat 
Protein, per cent 
13.0 
10.80 
40.00 
50.00 
Niacin, mg./lb 
25.0 
3.50 
22.00 
27.00 
Thiamine, mg./lb 
2.2 
0.35 
2.20 
2.70 
Riboflavin, mg./lb 
0.5 
0.15 
1.45 
1.80 
Iron, mg./lb 
18.0 
3.00 
80.00 
100.00 
Calcium 
159.0 
90.80 
1271.00 
1588.00 
* High fat soybean flour 
Low fat soybean flour 
20-24 per cent ether extract. 
2-4 per cent ether extract. 
Table III. Nutritive Value of Whole Wheat, White and Soybean Flour 
The high fat soybean flour is 
derived from the whole bean and 
contains most of the fat originally 
present in the bean. Low fat soy- 
bean flour is derived from meals 
from which the fat has been 
extracted during the production of 
soybean oil. As can be seen, even 
relatively small amounts of soy- 
bean flour would contribute sub- 
stantial amounts of protein, thiam- 
ine, riboflavin, iron, and calcium to 
the finished product. 
Rye flour is similar to the wheat 
flours in its content of thiamine, 
niacin, and riboflavin. The degree 
of refining affects rye flour in a 
manner similar to that of wheat. 
In Table IV a comparison of the 
thiamine, niacin, and riboflavin 
value of rye flours with wheat 
flours is made. It is noted that 
dark rye flour which is more com- 
monly used than the white type 
is much richer in the vitamins. 
Table IV. The Thiamine, Niacin, and Riboflavin Content of Wheat and Rye Flours 
Wheat flour 
Rye flour 
Nutrient 
Whole 
White 
Dark 
White 
Thiamine, mg./lb 
2.20 
0.35 
1 ,45 
0.08 
Niacin, mg./lb 
25.00 
3.50 
5.54 
3.20 
Riboflavin, mg./lb 
0.50 
0.15 
0.77 
0.33 
167 Specialty Breads 
The various breads derived from 
flours other than wheat are con- 
sumed in only limited quantities in 
the United States. The nutritive 
value of these breads depends to 
a large extent on the type of flour 
used in its baking. Rye breads for 
the most part are made from the 
dark flour, and are, therefore, simi- 
lar to whole wheat bread in nutri- 
tive value. 
The addition of soybean flour to 
wheat flour improves the nutritive 
value of the bread thus made. An 
“Open Recipe” bread containing 
5 per cent soybean flour and 4 per 
cent skim milk has been marketed 
in Ithaca and vicinity with suc- 
cessful consumer acceptance. The 
nutritive value of this bread com- 
pared with white bread meeting the 
minimum enrichment standards is 
given in Table Y. 
Table V. The Nutritive Value of “ 
Open Recipe” White Bread (5 Per Cent Soybean 
Flour) Compared 
with 
the Minimum Enrichment Standards 
Enrichment standards 
“Open Recipe” with for white bread 
Nutrient 
enriched- flour 
Present 
Proposed 
Protein, gms./lb 
50.00 
31.78* 
31.78* 
Niacine, mg./lb 
15.45 
4.00 
10.00 
Thiamine, mg./lb 
2.15 
1.00 
1.10 
Riboflavin, mg./lb 
1.00 
1 
0.70 
Iron, mg./lb 
13.44 
4.00 
8.00 
Calcium, mg./lb 
225.00 
•■••t 
* No standard set for protein content. This value 
is based on the average for 
white breads. 
t Optional ingredients. If 
included as an optional ingredient, riboflavin would 
be 0.80 mg. and calcium would be 
333 mg. under present standards and 
300 mg. 
under proposed standards. 
The addition of soybean flour to 
wheat flour not only increases the 
total protein content, but also the 
biological value of the protein of 
the bread. At the same time, the 
texture and general appearance is 
not noticeably different from that 
of the usually more acceptable 
white breads. 
Breads 
The important constituents of 
bread from a nutrition standpoint 
are flour, shortening, skimmilk and 
yeast. Bread also contains approxi- 
mately 35 per cent of water. The 
amounts of the different ingredi- 
ents used vary in different formu- 
las. A particularly important factor 
in the nutritive value of bread is 
the amount of skimmilk solids used. 
Six per cent is commonly men- 
tioned as the desirable level for 
these solids, but at the present time, 
4 per cent is the maximum that can 
be used, according to Federal regu- 
lations adopted because of the short 
supply. Actually most breads on 
the market at the present time con- 
tain less than 3 per cent and some 
may have none. Shortening, which 
adds to the calorific value of the 
bread, also appears to be present 
at a lower than normal level in 
the breads now being marketed. 
Reflecting the nutritive values of 
the flours previously discussed, 
168 there are important differences in 
breads according to whether whole 
grain or ordinary white or enriched 
Hour is used in their manufacture. 
Enriched bread can be made from 
enriched flour or by the use of 
other means of supplying the 
required nutrients. Special high- 
vitamin-containing yeast and addi- 
tions of the crystalline vitamins are 
often used by the baker to produce 
the enriched product. 
A comparison of the nutritive 
value of white, white enriched, and 
whole wheat breads made with 
water and dried skim milk is given 
in Table VI. It can be seen that 
bread meeting the present mini- 
mum enrichment standards con- 
tains more of the various essential 
nutrients than unenriched white 
bread, but is still somewhat below 
those present in whole wheat. The 
beneficial effects that the addition 
of 6 per cent dried skimmilk im- 
parts to tlie various breads is especi- 
ally shown by the marked increase 
in calcium, riboflavin, and to some 
extent, protein. The phosphorus, 
although not considered a critical 
nutrient and therefore not includ- 
ed as an enrichment ingredient, is 
increased by about 50 per cent 
when skimmilk is included at the 
6 per cent level. In regard to the 
enrichment standards, calcium and 
riboflavin are at present listed as 
optional ingredients. As a result, 
most enriched breads contain these 
nutrients in amounts equal only to 
that shown for unenriched white 
bread (Table VI). New enrich- 
ment standards, which are expect- 
ed to become effective soon, will 
require the addition of riboflavin 
but not of calcium. These new 
standards will also require a sub- 
stantial increase in the amounts of 
iron and niacin in enriched breads 
(Table VI parentheses values). 
Table VI. The Composition of White, Enriched, and 
Whole Wheat Breads and the 
Effect of Adding Dried Skimmilk at a 
6 Per Cent Level (Values on 
a 
35 Per 
Cent Moisture Basis) 
Protein 
Calcium 
Iron 
Thiamine 
Riboflavin 
Niacin 
Bread 
per cent 
mg./lb. 
mg./lb. 
mg./lb. 
mg./lb. 
mg./lb. 
White — 
made with water 
.. 6.95 
88.6 
2.0 
0.30 
0.11 
3.4 
made with 6% D.S.M. . 
.. 7.70 
342.0 
2.4 
0.35 
0.41 
3.5 
Enriched — 
made with water 
.. 6.95 
88.6* 
4.Of 
l.OOf 
.11* 
4.Of 
(8.0)t 
(i.io)t 
(0.7) f 
(10.0) f 
made with 6% D.S.M . . 
.. 7.70 
342.0 
4.4 
1.05 
1.1 
4.1 
(553.0) 
(8.4) 
(1.15) 
(1.0) 
(10.1) 
Whole Wheat — 
made with water 
.. 7.70 
106.0 
11.6 
1.29 
0,66 
20.4 
made with 6% D.S.M.. 
.. 8.40 
359.0 
12.0 
1.34 
0.96 
20.5 
* Optional ingredients in enriched bread. 
Calcium would be 333 and riboflavin 0.8 mg./lb. 
if included 
as an enrichment ingredient. 
t Minimum enrichment levels. 
( ) Values in parentheses represent bread meeting the new proposed minimum enrichment levels. 
A comparison of the per cent 
of the minimum daily requirements 
set up by the Food and Drug Ad- 
ministration furnished by six 
ounces of the various types of 
breads is given in Table VII. The 
nutrients listed are those which 
are included in the enrichment 
program. It can be seen that bread 
meeting the present enrichment 
169 standards approaches whole wheat 
in value and very nearly equals 
whole wheat when meeting the new 
proposed standards for enrichment. 
The vitamin niacin has been omit- 
ted from this table, as no definite 
requirements for man have been 
established for this nutrient. How- 
ever, the amount required to meet 
the enrichment standards is of im- 
portance in improving the nutri- 
tional status of the average diet. 
Table VII. Per Cent 
of the Minimum Daily Requirement Furnished by 6 Ounces* 
of Bread Made 
with Water 
Enrichment standards 
Nutrient 
Whole Wheat 
White 
Present 
Proposed 
Thiamine 
.... 48.4 (50.2) 
11.0 (13.0) 
37.5 
40.0 
Iron 
.... 43.5 
7.5 
15.0 
30.0 
Riboflavin 
. ... 12.3(18.0) 
2.0 (7.7) 
2.Of 
13.0 
Calcium 
5,3(17.9) 
4.4 (17.0) 
4.4f 
4.4f 
* Average daily consumption in U. 3. 
t Optional ingredients. Riboflavin would be 15% and calcium 15% if included as enrichment ingredients 
( ) Figures in parentheses show the effect of adding 6 parts of dried skimmilk to each 100 parts of flour. 
Digestion experiments carried 
out on both man and rats show a 
slightly lower digestibility but 
higher biological value for whole 
wheat bread proteins compared to 
the proteins of white bread. This 
seems to hold true whether the 
breads are made with high vitamin 
yeasts or with appreciable amounts 
of skimmed milk, although the dif- 
ferences are much less apparent 
when skimmilk solids as high as 6 
per cent are used. In this same 
paper the beneficial effects on 
growth and bone formation from 
the inclusion of skimmilk in bread 
are clearly shown. It has been men- 
tioned that the content of skimmilk 
solids is undoubtedly low in the 
breads now being marketed. In 
fact, this was apparently the case 
even when larger supplies of the 
product were available, as is indi- 
cated by data obtained in this 
laboratory in 1942, presented in 
Table VIII. The results were 
obtained from a study of 33 breads 
mostly on the Ithaca market, in- 
cluding other nationally advertised 
and local brands. It is noted that 
most of the breads fall well below 
the 6 per cent skimmilk solids level. 
The average milk solids for brands 
claiming milk amounted to 2.28 
per cent while the brands not claim- 
ing milk contained an average of 
2.32 per cent. The average for all 
brands is 2.31 per cent and ap- 
proximately one-fifth of them con- 
tained less than 1 per cent. 
170 Table VIII. Skimmilk Solids in Bread 
Purchased on the 
Open Market, 1942 
Skim milk solids 
Skimmilk solids 
N on-enriched Breads percent (dry basis) 
Enriched Breads 
per cent (dry basis) 
1 
0.34 
*17 Cracked Wheat ... 0.80 
*2 
0.35 
*18 Whole Wheat 
1.76 
3 75% Whole Wheat. 
0.53 
19 
1.83 
*4 
0.56 
*20 
5 Cracked Wheat .. . 
0.72 
21 
6 100% Whole Wheat 
0.89 
22 
2.38 
*7 Cracked Wheat . .. 
1.04 
*23 Missouri . . . . 
2.71 
*8 
1.26 
24 Missouri . . . . 
2.94 
9 
1 .36 
25 
3 02 
*10 
1.39 
26 Kansas 
3.18 
11 
1.87 
3 21 
12 Cracked Wheat . . . 
2.16 
28 
3.61 
*13 
2.47 
29 
3.96 
14 
2.49 
*30 
3.97 
*15 Cracked Wheat ... 
3.07 
31 
4.29 
16 Soft twist 
3.28 
*32 
4.56 
*33 
6.20 
* Claim of milk or milk 
solids on label. 
From the previous statements 
and tables of composition of the 
various breads the following points 
are evident: (1) Whole wheat 
breads excel both white and white 
enriched breads in general nutri- 
tive value. (2) White enriched 
bread contains more thiamine, 
niacin, and iron than white bread 
and the amounts are standardized 
by law. (3) The amount of skim- 
milk solids is of large importance 
in the consideration of the nutri- 
tive value of breads. 
In evaluating whole wheat, white, 
and white enriched breads several 
experiments have been reported 
where white rats have been fed the 
various breads plus water as the 
only source of food. As would be 
expected, whole wheat bread has 
proved to be a better growth pro- 
moter than white enriched or white 
unenriched bread. But enriched 
breads have generally shown about 
the same growth promoting value 
as unenriched breads, resulting in 
questions as to the value of the 
enrichment. 
Actually, the experimental tech- 
nique is at fault. It must be borne 
in mind that bread in itself is far 
from being a complete food and a 
deficiency of only one nutrient can 
limit growth even though other fac- 
tors are present in liberal amounts. 
The addition of thiamine, niacin, 
and iron would not make a bread 
and water diet adequate for growth. 
Thus the ad libitum feeding of 
enriched and white unenriched 
breads is an unsatisfactory method 
of evaluating the individual nutri- 
ents present in these breads. It is 
clear, however, that an animal or 
human diet which is deficient in 
thiamine, niacin, or iron will be 
benefited much more by the addi- 
tion of enriched bread than by 
unenriched bread when fed on 
equal weight basis. The same 
would be true for any other nutri- 
ent which might be included in the 
enrichment program. 
The enrichment program is cer- 
tainly an important means of pro- 
viding those nutrients which sur- 
veys have indicated to be present 
171 in deficient or border line amounts 
in the average American diet. It 
is deserving of full public support. 
Despite its nutritive superiority, 
whole wheat bread has the very 
practical limitation that it does not 
meet public acceptance. The large 
amounts of bran present cause gas- 
trointestinal troubles in some in- 
dividuals. And, in spite of wide- 
spread urging by nutritionists in 
this country, the use of 100 per 
cent whole wheat bread has 
amounted to a very small per cent 
of the total bread sold. There has 
been no material increase in its 
consumption during the past quar- 
ter of a century. 
172 Public Health Aspects of It read and Flour 
Robert R. Williams 
The indispensability of food 
is undisputed. One must 
have something to eat at 
frequent intervals. However, the 
pangs of hunger can be satisfied by 
almost anything digestible, whence 
the intuitive feeling that food is 
food. Choice among foods is 
largely a matter of gustatory plea- 
sure according to traditional popu- 
lar notions. 
We have long survived the prac- 
tice of choosing our foods in brows- 
ing fashion, picking item after 
item as it offers itself and as it 
appeals to our several fancies. We 
have been under no painful neces- 
sity of measuring and weighing so 
much of this and so much of that as 
does the diabetic. We are prone to 
skepticism about the science of die- 
tetics so long as we experience no 
distress just before or after meals. 
Tt is very fortunate that random 
choice suffices after a fashion, for 
had we been compelled to learn the 
science of nutrition to find adequ- 
ate subsistence man would never 
have adorned the earth. Our abil- 
ity to subsist without nutritional 
science has been partly due to in- 
stinct which tells us to choose some- 
thing digestible. It is even more 
due to the fact that all living things 
employ metabolic processes similar 
to our own, and so contain within 
their tissues all the nutrients we 
need. We have been endlessly safe- 
guarded against specific wants by 
our kinship to the plants and ani- 
mals we eat and also by the fact 
that there is nothing else to eat. 
Had we had offered to us non- 
living sources of food, say oil wells 
of glyceride fats or subterranean 
beds of starch, we should have dis- 
covered ages ago that our nutri- 
tional needs are really very intri- 
cate and exacting. 
The suitability for human food 
of all living things (barring the 
occasional occurrence of poisons) 
is a principle of general validity, 
but it can be, and has been his- 
torically, carried to extremes. 
While whole plants or whole 
animals contain in general the 
nutrients we require, it does not 
follow that each portion of each 
plant or animal is so endowed. In 
savagery man got variety for he 
could not find enough of any one 
thing to eke out existence. He also 
ate things whole or approximately 
so for be had little facility in excis- 
ing parts which appealed to bis 
fancy. But as he settled down to 
agriculture, he began to concen- 
trate on a few crops which bore 
abundantly where he lived, notably 
the cereals. He bred these for 
their seeds and ignored the roots, 
stalks and leaves which were rela- 
tively inedible. Gradually, he 
learned how to discard the bran of 
the seeds and progressively he did 
so. Whereupon, after some cen- 
turies he learned by unhappy 
experience of the existence of 
vitamins. 
The foregoing is a thumbnail 
sketch of the development of the 
modern science of nutrition, but it 
is an essentially true one. Out of 
the practice of milling rice came 
beriberi and the recognition of de- 
173 ficiency disease. We even owe our 
recognition of scurvy as a specific 
deficiency disease to the Oriental 
practice of polishing rice, for it was 
in an endeavor to produce ships’ 
beriberi in guinea pigs that Holst 
and Frolich encountered the lack 
of the anti-scorbutic substance in 
unsprouted grains. In a sense it 
was this same human predeliction 
for refining cereals that led to the 
use of “synthetic” diets in the 
study of the growth of rats in Eng- 
land and America. The base of 
these so-called synthetic diets used 
for the discovery of other vitamins 
was prevailingly starch. 
The translation of the Oriental 
experience concerning beriberi and 
rice to the Western wheat-eating 
world required, and even yet 
requires, much discretion. It is 
indeed a far cry from the Chinese 
coolie’s bowl of rice to the rela- 
tively varied diet which the average 
citizen of the United States enjoys. 
Variety tends to protect the latter 
from gross deficiencies, but the base 
of the Westerner’s diet is still a de- 
corticated grain. Wheat products, 
very largely white, constitute a 
fourth of his total caloric intake, 
on the average amounting to 155 
pounds per capita per annum in the 
United States. To this he adds 
about 100 pounds per annum of 
refined sugar to make a total of 
40 per cent of his calories. One 
also must reflect that these foods 
are the cheapest sources of energy 
so that low income groups in gen- 
eral surpass these figures. Among 
laborers’ families a consumption 
of 250 pounds of flour, or of flour 
and meal together is not rare under 
normal economic conditions. 
Enrichment of Bread and Flour 
This furnishes the essential basis 
for the emphasis which has been 
placed on the improvement of 
bread and flour as the prime nutri- 
tional problem of this country. 
While the movement to enrich 
white flour with the appropriate 
vitamins and iron has gained the 
support of the great majority of 
nutritionists in this country, it is 
opposed by some on three grounds. 
Some agree that there is need for 
reform, but decry the use of syn- 
thetics in preference to the whole 
grain which would supply the 
needed substances. Others think 
the need for additional amounts of 
these vitamins has been greatly 
exaggerated. A few express fear of 
“a vitamin imbalance” through 
supplying only those vitamins 
which are practically attainable 
commercially. 
Many of the supporters of 
enrichment of bread and flour can 
agree in theory with those who 
favor whole grain as a remedy. The 
difficulty is to get the remedy ap- 
plied. Advocacy of the use of 
whole grain is not new. It has been 
tried repeatedly by commercial 
companies in this country with 
very limited success. Of these, the 
effort to establish “Staff” bread is 
the most recent as well as the most 
ambitious attempt. It was carried 
out simultaneously with the in- 
auguration of the enrichment pro- 
gram, but it failed while the latter 
succeeded. A national experiment 
in long extraction flour under the 
auspices of the Swiss Government 
in 1936-37 also failed. Long extrac- 
tion flour is now in use in Eng- 
174 land under the necessities of war, 
but its popularity is not such as 
to promise that it will endure under 
peace conditions. 
Health in Capsules 
It is quite true that many radio 
programs nauseatingly exaggerate 
the possibilities of vitamins. From 
these roseate accounts, one might 
judge that the beauty of a Venus, 
the strength of Hercules or even 
eternal youth may be had for a few 
shekels at the nearest corner store. 
No one is more distressed by this 
than those who have devoted years 
of sober study to the isolation and 
identification of these elusive me- 
chanisms of Nature. But let us be 
realistic. All sorts of goods are 
advertised these days in extrav- 
agant terms and the radio forces 
them on our consciousness. We can 
skip the advertising pages of a 
newspaper, but it is difficult to skip 
the ads in radio programs. If we 
were more expert about other 
goods, we would realize that the 
advertising associated with many 
of them is similarly colored. Actu- 
ally the present vogue for exten- 
sive advertising in spite of a 
deficiency of goods to sell is prim- 
arily a product of our excess profits 
tax on corporations. The Govern- 
ment will take the money any way 
so why not spend it on advertising 
is the reasoning behind it. 
In so far as vitamin dosing is a 
useless fad, it will presently die 
away. In so far as people experi- 
ence benefits, they will continue the 
practice. The truth lies somewhere 
between the extremes and the pub- 
lic will presently discover it. Let 
no one suppose that vitamin sales 
have mounted solely or primarily 
because of advertising, nor that the 
bulk of the production is going into 
tablets and capsules for self-medi- 
cation. Demand for many mem- 
bers of the vitamin B complex 
remains trivial in comparison with 
that for those which have been 
endorsed for use in staple foods. 
Moreover it is clear that much 
of the output of capsules and tab- 
lets is used by people who have 
long used the products and who 
believe they have experienced bene- 
fit. In so far as this benefit is real 
and continuing, the practice will 
continue. Unless they are remind- 
ed by returning malaise, people will 
‘ ‘ forget to take their medicine ’ ’ 
as people have always been prone 
to do. That repeat use of vitamins 
is so prevalent is evidence that a 
substantial fraction of the sup- 
posed benefit is real. 
The total annual value of vitamin 
products sold in the United States 
is about $1 per capita of which a 
large fraction goes into staple food 
products, bread, flour, oleomar- 
garine and milk at modest prices 
and in moderate proportions. 
Modest but genuine benefits accru- 
ing to even 10 per cent of the popu- 
lation would justify such an expen- 
diture, amounting as it does to only 
a quarter of 1 per cent of the cost 
of living. Any other significant 
improvement of the diet, such as a 
uniform use of a pint of milk for 
adults and a quart for children, 
would cost a score of times as much. 
The popular use of synthetic 
vitamins is justified only on the 
assumption that it is not physio- 
logically harmful. If a nice bal- 
ance of the proportions of the 
175 several vitamins in the diet is 
required for health, the generous 
use of selected synthetics would dis- 
turb it. While it would be rash 
to say that proportioning is a mat- 
ter of indifference, it can be said 
from the history of vitamin 
research that the balance is not a 
delicate one. AVe discovered each 
of the B vitamins by adding them 
successively in unknown amounts 
to diets previously found deficient. 
Each time the effects were additive, 
not sometimes plus and sometimes 
minus as would be the case if the 
balance were delicate. 
This is not to say that adverse 
effects might not be encountered 
if disproportionate fortification 
were carried to extremes. It is for 
this reason that the Food and 
Nutrition Board of the National 
Research Council has opposed in- 
discriminate fortification of food- 
stuffs with vitamins and has favor- 
ed additions only in the case of 
specific widely used staples of 
known deficient character. For tbe 
same reason, addition of vitamins 
to staples is favored only in limited 
proportions and the selection of 
the vitamins to be added is restric- 
ted to those for which there is a 
specific and reasonable sanction. 
The overall effect of such additions 
is therefore within the limits 
which could be achieved by rea- 
sonable selection of natural foods. 
Under these circumstances, there 
can be no hazard of imbalance. 
In addition to assurance of the 
a priori reasonableness of bread 
and flour enrichment, of its econo- 
mic justification and its harmless- 
ness, the public health official will 
want evidence of its positive worth 
for the physical well-being of the 
population. This evidence is very 
difficult to secure in incontrover- 
tible and quantitative form. If 
there were a widespread prevalence 
of forthright deficiency disease 
liable frequently to dramatic and 
fatal termination, achievement by 
enrichment would be much easier 
to measure. Pellagra is to some 
extent such a forthright disease, 
but the proportion of fatalities has 
greatly declined and mild defi- 
ciency now predominates. This has 
been true all along of thiamine and 
riboflavin deficiencies as well as of 
nutritional anemia. The results 
which we can anticipate are there- 
fore enhancement of vigor and in- 
dustrial efficiency of adults, better 
growth and improved health level 
in children, etc. These are dif- 
ferences of degree which are not 
readily made evident in vital sta- 
tistics, yet their aggregate effect 
may be greater than that of the 
eradication of a sporadic fatal 
disease. 
It is to be feared we shall have 
to wait for years for conclusive 
evidence. In the meantime, we shall 
have to be content with partial 
evidence. Such partial evidence is 
supplied (1) by dietary surveys 
showing suboptimal levels of these 
nutrients in prevailing dietaries of 
low paid components of society, (2) 
by the prevalence of recognizable 
symptoms which yield to vitamin 
therapy, (3) by limited experi- 
ments with controlled groups of 
human beings, and (4) by more 
numerous animal experiments. All 
tend to confirm one another but 
fall short of affording means of 
prediction as to the measure of 
improvement to be expected in the 
population as a whole. 
176 Prospect of adequate evidence is 
further deferred by the fact that 
enrichment of bread and flour is 
not yet reaching down where it 
will do the most good. This applies 
particularly to flour, as bread is 
sold on a more democratic basis. 
Many bakeries serve rich and poor 
alike with the same loaf. How- 
ever, in our South, homemade 
bread rather than bakery bread 
is the staple and the key to the 
situation there is family flour. Such 
flour of the cheaper grades is sold 
on a highly competitive basis as 
to price. A large volume of it is 
not enriched because the enrich- 
ment cost of about ten cents per 
100 pounds is a competitive handi- 
cap. The people who buy this 
flour include a large fraction of 
those who need enrichment most 
because their diets are of meagre 
variety. 
State Action Urged 
We must address ourselves to the 
solution of this problem at once. 
Public appeal will not meet the 
need, for low income people are the 
hardest to reach by printed word 
or radio. Federal legislation would 
be valuable, but it may be difficult 
to secure now that the administra- 
tion and Congress are engrossed 
with war problems and the contro- 
versies of a presidential year. 
State action seems the most avail- 
able means. The lead has been 
taken by South Carolina, Alabama, 
Louisiana and Texas which have 
all enacted laws requiring the en- 
richment of white bread and flour. 
Other states should follow their ex- 
ample and enact such laws at the 
next sessions of their legislatures. 
Such state laws will serve a very 
useful purpose even after Federal 
enactment of such legislation for 
the latter can control only inter- 
state commerce in bread and flour. 
Local production and sale will re- 
main the responsibility of the state. 
It is conspicuously true that unen- 
riched dour and bread is now pro- 
duced mostly by small local millers 
and bakers. Many small bakeries 
are ignoring the existing War Food 
Administration order requiring the 
enrichment of white pan bread and 
the Administration, burdened as it 
is with many matters related to war 
food management, has not the per- 
sonnel and machinery to enforce it 
fully. 
We have succeeded by voluntary 
action to the extent of about 75 per 
cent of the family flour and an 
equal proportion of bakery bread. 
After two years’ experience at 
about this level of enrichment, we 
can say that the practice is entirely 
feasible commercially and controll- 
able from a public health stand- 
point. This makes legislative action 
possible and reasonable as it would 
not be without such experience. 
In preparing state laws, it is 
important that there be uniformity 
of the provisions. Otherwise pro- 
ducers of bread or flour will be bur- 
dened with the necessity of pre- 
paring special products or special 
labels for shipment into the several 
states. This can only add to costs 
and may undesirably restrict the 
commercial distribution of the 
products. Proposals for uniform 
provisions are in preparation by 
competent persons interested in en- 
richment and the National Re- 
search Council, AVashington, D. C., 
177 will be able to provide information 
about their progress in the matter 
from time to time. 
To get behind this movement 
vigorously requires faith in the 
worth of the cause. Such faith may 
come from contemplation of the as- 
tounding number of people with 
symptoms of deficiency disease 
which appear in our clinics, of the 
thousands of young men in their 
prime who have been rejected for 
military service for physical unfit- 
ness, or even from reflection on the 
fact that livestock and poultry 
raisers find that good scientific nu- 
trition pays. All we are asking is 
that America invest a relative pit- 
tance to prove whether this clear 
indication of nutritional science 
can be realized in a sturdier man- 
hood and womanhood tomorrow. 
Fifteen cents per capita per annum 
represents the present cost of en- 
riching every pound of bread and 
flour consumed in the country. Are 
you willing to gamble that much or 
will you save it for postage ? 
378 Bread of the Future 
Dr. C. M. McCay 
Lieutenant Commander, H-V(S), USNR 
Bread is an important item in 
the nutrition of our Nation 
because the amount eaten by 
the average person is about six 
ounces per day. Since few people 
pass a single day without eating 
some bread, the nutritive value of 
this part of the diet is very im- 
portant. Bread of high nutritive 
value may be the factor that shifts 
the national balance toward excel- 
lent or toward poor nutrition. 
Bread must not only have a high 
nutritive value but must also have 
a taste appeal that makes it com- 
pete with the many items in our 
dietary that tend to displace it. 
As one looks over the different 
periods of history or even studies 
the breads in use by different 
nations today he is amazed at the 
difference in nutritive value and 
flavors. Probably no other single 
item of food is so variable. At the 
Bread of the future will be even more 
healthful than present day enriched 
bread 
179 same time the student of bread 
cannot help but feel that American 
bread fails to equal the best that 
can be produced. 
Anyone who travels abroad is 
struck by the great differences in 
the amounts and kinds of bread 
eaten by various nations. The huge 
bakery turning out its excellent 
loaves of heavy rye bread in Lenin- 
grad makes one ask how much of 
the excellent health and stamina of 
the average Russian is due to the 
bread he eats. The excellent dark 
breads of Germany make one 
wonder how much of the miracle of 
turning sickly children from the 
first World War into the husky 
soldiers of the present one is due to 
the bread. The extensive use of 
white breads made with water in 
France raises the question of the 
weakness in their national nutri- 
tion due to a poor bread. 
The importance of the amount 
of bread eaten was driven home 
to the author a few months ago 
when he was pondering over the 
success of the new “National 
Bread” in England. The English 
report no major troubles from this 
bread although it represents an 
extraction of about 82 pounds of 
flour from 100 pounds of wheat. 
During the first World War the 
French found the fiber in bread 
made from flour of similar extrac- 
tion caused them much trouble. 
The difference between the two 
nations is probably due to the fact 
that the French are much heavier 
bread eaters than the English. In 
breads moderately rich in fiber the 
French would have a much higher 
daily intake of this fiber than the 
English. 
Future Consumption 
So we must consider the first 
great question of the amount of 
bread that will be consumed in the 
future. During the early part of 
the present century the curve has 
turned downward. Men have done 
less muscular work and needed 
fewer calories. They have eaten 
more refined calories from sugar 
in the form of candy, ice cream 
and soft drinks instead of from 
bread. 
Today the average person eats a 
little less than six ounces or six 
slices of bread. This consumption 
of bread is also found in many 
branches of the armed services. 
Men in these services tend to reflect 
their home food habits. They eat 
about two slices of bread per meal. 
The ration allowance for the Navy 
still carries the item of 12 ounces 
of bread, but the men do not con- 
sume this much. Therefore supply 
officers tend to save on this item 
and draw more heavily on some 
other section of the provision list 
such as that devoted to milk 
products. 
Even if our Nation stabilizes its 
bread consumption at six ounces 
per day, the quality of this bread 
may be of great importance in our 
national health. Therefore our 
breads need to be the best that can 
be produced. In wartime this is 
especially important because many 
industrial workers carry sand- 
wiches for lunch. 
The argument is often presented 
that we need pay little attention to 
the quality of bread especially in 
our armed forces because the 
remainder of the diet is so rich in 
such items as meat. Thus it is 
180 asserted that there is little use in 
including dry milk solids or soy 
flour in bread in order to improve 
the protein. ’This viewpoint is 
probably a serious mistake because 
there are always individuals who 
rely heavily upon bread for much 
of their food. Furthermore meat 
supplies may fail in emergencies 
but bread is usually available. For 
all purposes the bread of the 
highest quality that can be made 
without undue cost is the desirable 
one. 
Post-war Bread 
When better breads become 
available in the future, more may 
be consumed. If the American 
dietary is built around a liberal 
amount of high quality bread 
produced in commercial bakeries, 
the work of the housewife can be 
simplified. Her meals can contain 
fewer items. This means less 
cookery and less washing of pots 
and pans. 
A good bread spread with fats 
containing vitamins A and D as 
well as jam or marmalade rich in 
vitamin C may be a complete diet 
for man. This implies that jams, 
jellies and marmalades will be im- 
proved as well as bread. These 
spreads can be made rich in 
vitamin C but most of them now 
contain little. 
From our childhood memories 
most of us recall huge slices of 
warm bread with melted butter in 
the middle. We also remember the 
usual second course which involved 
the addition of jam or jelly. 
The provision of better breads in 
the future will be certain if the 
housewives demand them. In the 
past bread has been selected be- 
cause it was soft when punched, 
because it was cheap, or because 
a loaf had a large volume. The 
growing interest in nutrition has 
made large numbers of buyers 
aware that bread is bought for its 
nutritive value and taste. Further- 
more the housewives have become 
aware that the baker can effect 
savings for her by buying such 
foods as dry skim milk at whole- 
sale prices. 
The incorporation of dry skim 
milk in bread relieves it from the 
cost of packaging and passing 
through the retail channels of the 
grocery store as a separate item. 
Furthermore its use is extended to 
a large number of people without 
the necessity of teaching new 
methods of cookery and without 
coming into competition with whole 
fresh milk. 
Several developments are pos- 
sible in the production of better 
breads. In the first place the 
heavy dark ones made of rye and 
whole wheat may be improved in 
keeping qualities and nutritive 
value. It is commonly asserted that 
the American public does not like 
bread made from whole grains. The 
home economist is said to have 
failed because she has taught the 
value of dark breads in vain. 
Recently the author studied the 
bread consumption in a large cafe- 
teria where there was free choice 
of a 30 per cent rye bread, a 50 
per cent whole wheat and a white 
bread. Two-thirds of the bread 
chosen was white bread and one- 
third dark breads. None of the 
breads were above average in qual- 
ity. The amount of high quality 
dark breads that would be chosen 
181 by the public remains unknown 
but much depends upon the bread 
eating habits formed by the 
children. 
Dark Bread is Favored 
In general the nutrition special- 
ist favors dark breads. The his- 
tory of the science of nutrition 
teaches over and over, that every 
decade thinks it has discovered most 
of the facts about the content of 
natural food products in such con- 
stituents as vitamins and minerals. 
Each year, however, new dis- 
coveries add to the list of vitamins, 
and to new relationships between 
them and the functioning of the 
body. Usually such discoveries 
encourage the use of products as 
they occur in nature with a mini- 
mum of processing and so-called 
“purification.” 
In general whole grain flours 
retain the maximum amounts of 
minerals and vitamins as well as 
protein from the original grain. 
The major disadvantage is the high 
content of fiber which is not well 
tolerated by some people. Further- 
more, this fiber may cause some 
wastage of inorganic elements such 
as calcium. The national bread of 
England causes a loss from the 
body of about a tenth of a gram 
of calcium daily. This may be im- 
portant if the calcium intake is a 
half gram per day but becomes less 
important above this level. Good 
breads of the dark varieties can be 
made with extra calcium which 
will not only offset this loss but 
add to the daily supply. 
On the other hand, there is little 
doubt that a sedentary population 
may benefit by the fiber in its bread. 
Inasmuch as the heavy dark breads 
remain in the stomach longer they 
give a feeling of fullness to those 
engaged in strenuous occupations. 
In time of war there is a consider- 
able advantage in feeding an army 
such as that of Russia a diet in 
which the basic food item is a heavy 
dark bread. The taste for such a 
bread is not developed overnight 
but during many years of life, 
especially in childhood. 
In the immediate future the aver- 
age American will undoubtedly 
select some type of white bread. 
He has eaten this as a child. He 
had been taught to do so by the 
tremendous advertising programs 
to sell white flour and white bread. 
To this typical American bread 
represents a rather tasteless sub- 
stance useful for covering with jam 
or soaking up gravy. Some advan- 
ces in improving this white bread 
have been made by increasing its 
content of three of the water 
soluble vitamins and iron. These 
vitamins will probably continue to 
be used to “enrich” bread unless 
future evidence indicates they are 
not satisfactory to the economy 
of the body when not accompanied 
by other water soluble vitamins 
that are found in whole grains 
before milling. 
Further progress will undoubt- 
be made in improving the 
vitamin content of white bread. In 
time minerals other than iron may 
be added. Calcium will undoubt- 
edly be the next common addition. 
More breads with better quality 
proteins will undoubtedly be made 
in the near future. Ordinary 
wheat flour has the quality of its 
protein admirably supplemented 
182 by the addition of small percent- 
ages of such products as soya flour, 
dried skimmed milk and dried 
brewer’s yeast. 
Better processes for making soya 
flour are evolving. More dried 
skimmed milk is being recovered 
as the appreciation of its high 
nutritive value increases. The war 
has stimulated the recovery of 
brewer’s yeast. This is the dried 
product that results from the fer- 
mentation process in the making of 
beer. The cells in this yeast product 
are dead so it is to be regarded as 
a foodstuff rich in vitamins and 
protein. Since these yeast cells are 
killed in the process of drying they 
no longer have the power of pro- 
ducing carbon dioxide and making 
bread rise like the live yeasts used 
by the baker and the housewife. 
There is still considerable confu- 
sion between the dead, dry brewer’s 
yeast which is mixed with flour 
because of its nutritive value and 
the Jive yeast employed in the mix- 
ture to make bread rise. 
Other products that may ulti- 
mately find a place in improved 
bread are the flours made from 
the germ of wheat and corn after 
the oil is pressed out. Large 
volumes of these products are avail- 
able. Their proteins seem to be 
good supplements for those of 
refined wheat flour. In time other 
products such as flours from cot- 
tonseed and peanut meals may be 
ingredients of bread. Today there 
is still some question about flour 
from cottonseed because it has 
never been freed entirely from the 
accusation of toxicity. Further- 
more a few individuals suffer 
severe anaphylactic shock from cot- 
tonseed proteins. 
Public Action Needed 
In order to insure better bread 
two general types of public action 
are possible. In the first place 
specifications can be established 
and made compulsory by Govern- 
ment action. Such specifications 
need to be devised with great care 
to make sure that adequate sup- 
plies of materials suitable for mak- 
ing the specified bread are avail- 
able. Furthermore such bread must 
still maintain its competitive posi- 
tion with other cheap sources of 
energy such as rice and potatoes 
as well as other wheat products 
such as macaroni. In the second 
place, facilities and methods must 
be available to Government agen- 
cies for checking compliance with 
specifications. In the past, at- 
tempts to improve bread have 
received serious setbacks both by 
failure to give adequate study to 
available supplies of ingredients 
and also by lack of means of 
enforcing specifications. 
Possibly a better means of insur- 
ing the production of a better 
bread is through the education of 
the housewife to demand it. The 
chief difficulty in attempting such 
educational programs is that funds 
and facilities for teaching the 
housewife as a consumer are 
usually limited in proportion to 
the amounts that can be spent in 
advertising. 
For many years New York State 
has attempted to teach the house- 
wife how to bake better bread. 
This has been done as part of the 
activities of the state extension 
service. For the most part this 
teaching has reached only the rural 
areas. 
In 1943 as a result of the grow- 
ing appreciation of the importance 
183 of food in winning the war, many 
new activities were started to make 
the most of the food supply in New 
York State. With the backing of 
the New York State Federation of 
Home Bureaus, a special commit- 
tee was appointed by the late dean 
of the N. Y. State College of Agri- 
culture, Carl Ladd. 
This committee proceeded to 
develop a formula for bread in the 
form of an open recipe that any 
baker might use. This was no in- 
novation since New York farmers 
had built much of their agricul- 
tural program behind open formula 
feeds for livestock. In other words 
the farmers have insisted upon 
knowing the amount of ingredients 
used in their feeds. 
The same concept was now 
applied to bread, namely that the 
housewife had the right to know 
the ingredients of the bread she 
was giving her family. Many 
breads had carried the names of 
ingredients but not the amount of 
each contained in the bread. 
This development of open recipe 
breads is of major importance to 
city dwellers since many house- 
wives in the rural areas bake their 
own bread and because the major- 
ity of people in New York State 
dwell in cities. The open recipe 
principle seems advantageous to 
both the housewife and the baker. 
It may lead also to a greater inter- 
est in quality bread and a heavier 
consumption. 
The first open recipe was devised 
along conservative, practical lines 
to avoid too wide a deviation from 
the public taste for established 
breads as well as from customary 
baking practices. The recipe issued 
for the housewife contained 2 cups 
of milk, 1-2 cakes of yeast, 3 tea- 
spoons of salt, 2y2 tablespoons of 
sugar, 1% tablespoons of shorten- 
ing, 6 cups of enriched flour and 
9 tablespoons of high fat soya flour. 
Twice this amount of soya flour 
should have been included in the 
interests of better protein quality 
in the bread but at the time the 
recipe was established there was un- 
certainty about the available sup- 
ply of this ingredient. The milk 
level was established in such an 
amount that the baker would be 
within the Federal regulations in 
using 4 per cent of dry skim milk 
solids. 
This bread is now in commercial 
production. Every loaf carries a 
statement of the amount of each 
ingredient. Such a bread program 
permits integration of teaching in 
nutrition and commercial baking- 
practices. Both have a common 
interest. 
Summary 
In summary we can recognize 
that the war has made a permanent 
contribution to human welfare by 
stimulating a widespread interest 
in the nutritive value of foods. 
Many ways of improving bread are 
available today. 
Breads that taste better and 
have a higher nutritive value can 
be made. 
Breads can be improved by the 
use of modest amounts of dry skim 
milk solids, soy flour and other 
special products. 
Dark breads that are familiar 
to many other nations but strange 
to most Americans should be given 
additional consideration. 
184 If breads of higher nutritive 
value become common on the 
American market, the housewife 
may be able to decrease her home 
cookery since she can decrease the 
number of dishes served in her 
meals. Better bread affords one 
of the best ways of improving our 
national dietary. The housewife 
should make use of her increased 
knowledge of nutrition by demand- 
ing better breads even if they cost 
more. Breads should carry a 
printed statement with each loaf 
indicating the amount of each in- 
gredient per loaf. The educational 
services should teach the housewife 
more about better bread. Public 
agencies should cooperate with 
bakeries in getting it produced. 
185 Food Behind Bars 
Drawing by Nicholas Apgar 
PART V 
CONSOLIDATED REPORT 
NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION 
187 Introduction 
Thomas C. Desmond 
Chairman, New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Nutrition 
How many of our criminals 
go astray because of “hid- 
den hunger” no one knows. 
But new findings of science indi- 
cate that sub-clinical malnutrition 
may be an important factor moti- 
vating crimes. 
Recognizing that food can be 
used as an instrument for the 
rebuilding of men, the Federal 
Bureau of Prisons requires that 
each inmate receive a balanced diet. 
The saboteur, the kidnaper, the 
murderer, whether he is at San 
Quentin, Alcatraz or other Federal 
prison gets meals, rich in essential 
nutrients. 
Coddling? No! The enlightened 
men entrusted with administering 
Uncle Sam’s penal system know 
that food can help greatly in mak- 
ing decent citizens of criminals, 
that a balanced diet is an essential 
measure in the rehabilitation of 
prisoners. 
Unfortunately, many of our 
states and localities have not yet 
reached Federal standards. Much 
remains to be done. A wide-scale 
assay of the nutritional status of 
criminals before and after impri- 
sonment is needed. The recom- 
mended requirement of calories, 
vitamins and proteins established 
by the National Research Council 
should be used as a guide by all 
prison administrators. In-service 
training of cooks and stewards 
needs to be adopted. Strict sani- 
tary regulations must be enforced. 
The three following articles pre- 
senting a description of nutritional 
practices in prisons of the United 
States Government, New York 
State, and New York City, will 
we hope prove of value to all pri- 
son administrators. 
189 Feeding Federal Prisoners 
G. A. Foss 
Chief Steward, Bureau of Prisons, United States Department of Justice 
In 24 Federal prisons 97 culin- 
ary experts care for the food 
requirements of the 20,000 
prisoners which in normal times 
people these institutions. 
The Bureau of Prisons places 
great stress on the value of food in 
institution life. Prisoners who 
never visited a doctor or paid 
second thought to what they ate 
and how it looked, become very 
health conscious and food conscious 
when they are confined. 
I have heard of an inmate who 
gauged his length of sentence by 
the food he was to get by saying 
he had “seven bananas and three 
days to go.” Bananas were served 
every Thursday in that institution. 
One of the chief concerns of pri- 
soners, after that of when they will 
be released, is what they will have 
for the next meal. Evidence of this 
is that in those institutions where 
the men file past the dining hall 
door as they go to and from work, 
it is necessary to reverse the menu 
boards so the line will not move 
too slowly. Many fights on the 
ball field can be traced back to a 
bad dinner. 
In addition to recognizing the 
morale effect of good food, there is 
also the contribution which good 
food makes to good health. Good 
food is properly prepared food, and 
this means that an effort has been 
made to furnish to the prisoner all 
the food values with which the food 
was originally endowed and with 
as little waste as possible. 
The man who goes to prison suf- 
fers devastating effects on his eat- 
ing habits. Things do not “taste 
good” to him because they are not 
cooked, flavored, or seasoned to suit 
his taste. lie may get more food 
of better quality than he had before 
entering the institution, but he 
craves the food to which he is accus- 
tomed. For this reason the culin- 
ary service, which is responsible for 
the planning, preparation, and 
serving of food, is considered one 
of the most important services in 
any institution. 
In planning mass feeding for a 
large group, the steward who 
administers the culinary service 
must recognize and cope with 
diverse food habits, religious food 
practices, sectional food differences, 
and the vagaries of the individual. 
The food must be prepared so that 
it satisfies nutritional needs as well 
as appetite. The best prepared 
food benefits no one unless it is 
eaten. The best planned meal, and 
even food prepared perfectly, can 
be served in such manner as to 
make it unappetizing and unpleas* 
ant. That is the reason why so much 
stress in institutional planning is 
placed upon cleanliness, sanitation, 
and the careful training of prison- 
ers. And of course the steward 
must prepare his meals within a 
poundage allowance. 
In any well managed institution 
the culinary service must function 
without interfering with any other 
activity, and the time schedule must 
190 be observed faithfully. Meals must 
be ready and served on the minute, 
and the dining room equipment 
must be cleared in readiness for the 
next meal without any delay. To 
do this the civilian staff must be 
well trained, and in turn must 
train all the prisoners handling 
food. It is essential that the staff 
know how to prepare and serve 
meals, but it is also important that 
each member of the staff be quali- 
fied to instruct the prisoners who 
work in the culinary service. 
The steward in Federal prisons 
does not function in the usual 
meaning of that word since he is 
not a purchasing agent and is not 
charged with the responsibilities 
of a storekeeper. He is not held to 
a cost allowance. As an important 
staff member he is responsible to 
the warden or associate warden for 
the proper discharge of his duties. 
He has full control over the opera- 
tions of all persons assigned to per- 
form any duties in the culinary 
service, planning of menus, prepar- 
ing and serving of meals, and care 
of equipment. In the Federal Pri- 
son System a steward is not respon- 
sible for procurement of supplies, 
but as a staff member he partici- 
pates in making the plans for pro- 
curement of food. 
The food service for each insti- 
tution is headed up by a steward 
of grade consistent with the size 
of the institution. He is assisted 
by a civilian staff. All culinary 
positions require supervisory abil- 
ity on the part of the culinary offi- 
cer since all work is done by the 
prisoners. Prisoners are not given 
charge of other prisoners. Culin- 
ary orders, rules, or instructions 
issue from the steward’s office. 
The Importance of Planning 
The secret of success for the 
culinary service is careful plan- 
ning, and in the Federal Prison 
System this planning is referred to 
as (a) long range, (b) quarterly, 
(c) monthly, and (d) for 10-day 
periods. 
In long range planning, studies 
are undertaken for the purpose of 
discovering better work methods. 
New foods, new food combinations, 
better cooking techniques, modern- 
ization of plant, and procurement 
of new and improved equipment, 
are considered. 
Quarterly planning is of extreme 
importance as the technique de- 
termining what shall be used in 
the way of food supplies. In the 
Federal Prison System this plan- 
ning is accomplished by the con- 
ference method, which will be dis- 
cussed later. Quarterly planning 
determines (1) what food supplies 
the steward must use throughout 
the quarter, (2) what food sup- 
plies shall be grown on the farm, 
and (3) what food supplies are 
to be procured by the chief clerk. 
Monthly planning for seasonal 
foods relieves the steward of the 
necessity of forecasting his needs 
for perishable items long in adv- 
ance of the time when they are to 
be used. It also allows him to 
utilize foods in season ■ to best 
advantage. Fish and poultry are 
usually included as a part of 
monthly planning. Another very 
sound reason for observing monthly 
planning is the fact that an appre- 
ciable increase in the number of 
prisoners imposes upon the steward 
the necessity for re-studying his 
quarterly plans to make the best 
191 use of food supplies already pro- 
cured before he undertakes to 
recommend purchase of additional 
supplies. Furthermore, the esti- 
mates from the farm manager are 
subject to change in the event of 
failure of crops. 
Menu1 planning for 10-day 
periods is an important job because 
through this method the steward is 
able to make good use of supplies 
and avoid too much repetition. All 
too frequently menus are prone to 
repeat themselves, and prisoners 
will come to know that “Thursday 
is here because we have hot cakes 
for breakfast.” Ten-day planning 
includes at least one Sunday, and 
unless a deliberate attempt is made 
to serve certain foods on certain 
days, repetition is less likely to 
occur. An interested steward scans 
magazines, newspapers, and recipe 
books for information on new ways 
to prepare food, and good menu 
planning is one of the best gauges 
of his ability. 
Subsistence Allotments 
Food allotments should always be 
made on the basis of the number of 
persons to be subsisted. Two 
methods of providing funds are 
available. One is to plan a mone- 
tary value as the diet allowance— 
so many cents per day—and the 
other is to allow a certain number 
of pounds of food for each prisoner 
per day. 
Providing a certain number of 
dollars to feed a group of men has 
many disadvantages. It does not 
guarantee an adequate diet. It puts 
the institution at the mercy of the 
market and when prices rise, food 
becomes scarce and trouble may 
occur in the institution. If allot- 
ments are made for a period of some 
months, it is very likely the men 
will live well during the first part 
of the allotment period, and eat 
beans and rice at its close. Where 
no accounting except an accounting 
for funds is demanded, unscrupul- 
ous officials might line their pockets 
at the expense of the prisoners by 
serving insufficient food. The more 
unattractive the food, the less 
would he eaten and the more money 
saved, so there is no incentive to 
prepare attractive and palatable 
menu items if money is the only 
consideration. 
A more satisfactory method for 
providing funds to operate an in- 
stitution is to set up a food allow- 
ance on a per man per day basis, 
and to break this allowance down 
into food details which will provide 
an adequate diet. Once this is done, 
it is possible to figure the approx- 
imate cost of such a ration by 
assigning to each detail the food 
most used in that detail and calling 
it the “type food.” Thus, if beef 
is the most used meat and each man 
is to receive 0.6 of a pound of meat 
per day, 0.6 multiplied by the price 
of one pound of beef would be the 
amount of money which could be 
spent per man per day for meat. 
Apply this to each detail and add 
the results and you will have the 
approximate daily cost of food per 
man per day. This system of food 
accounting is in use in the Bureau 
of Prisons. 
To set up such a system it is first 
necessary to arrive at the dietary 
allowances for food on the basis of 
i See Appendix C. 
192 nutrition. The best yardstick is the 
Recommended Dietary Allowances 
ot* the National Research Council. 
Take their allowance and figure out 
the foods necessary to supply this 
standard of nutrition and you have 
a balanced diet for foods as pur- 
chased. 
FEDERAL PENAL & CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS 
FOOD GROUPS S DAILY POUNDAGE ALLOWANCES 
PER INMATE FOR FOODS AS PURCHASED 
Operating under a Balanced 
Ration 
Nutritionists will arrive at dif- 
ferent results, but one such bal- 
anced diet which will meet all 
requirements of the National 
Research Council is as follows: 
With minor changes the above 
diet has been in effect in the 
Federal Prison Service since 1934. 
193 Food Detail 
Detail 
Daily Allowance 
Number 
Name 
in Pounds 
01 
.60 
02 
Fats 
.15 
03 
.80 
04 
1.00 
05 
Eggs 
.07 
06 
Sugar 
.15 
07 
Other Sweets 
.10 
08 
.10 
09 
1.00 
10 
Leafy* Green and Yellow Vegetables.. 
.60 
11 
Dried Vegetables 
.10 
12 
Fresh and Canned Fruits 
.15 
13 
.08 
14 
.10 
Total 
5.00 
Nearly every year the total pound- 
age has been very close to the 
allowance and at the end of the 
fiscal year the poundage for all 24 
institutions usually averages 
slightly under the five pounds, or 
about 4.9 pounds. Variance be- 
tween the details would be greater, 
due to farm operations, substitu- 
tions of certain foods, as milk for 
meat or eggs, and beans for pota- 
toes, but in the main, each detail 
is closely followed. 
Another way of expressing this 
ration is by means of the food 
wheel (See Chart I) which will 
show that each prisoner receives 
daily 4.25 pounds or 85 per cent of 
protective foods; .55 pounds or 11 
per cent of supplementary foods; 
and .20 pounds or 4 per cent of 
adjuncts. 
In the Bureau of Prisons costs 
are not the concern of the steward. 
Costs reflect purchasing methods 
and so fall within the province of 
the chief clerk or business man- 
ager. The steward is concerned 
with serving the poundage pro- 
vided by the balanced ration. To 
see what a reasonable cost for mess 
operation would be, the chief clerk 
uses the method of assigning type 
foods and figuring the cost as pre- 
viously outlined. Cost of a typical 
ration for one month follows: 
It must be remembered that 
figuring a ration allowance cost, 
as above indicated, makes no pro- 
vision for any incidental or main- 
tenance expenses, neither does it 
include salaries of employees in 
the culinary department. It 
should be considered as a guide 
only, not as a hard and fast allow- 
ance which cannot be exceeded 
under any circumstances. 
We cannot emphasize too strong- 
ly that this is only one type of 
balanced ration. Numerous com- 
binations of foods can be assem- 
bled which would be balanced. It 
might even be desirable to have 
more than 14 food details and it 
would be possible to have less than 
14. If limited funds prevent the 
use of this balanced ration, it 
would be possible to calculate a 
ration as nearly adequate as pos- 
sible which would fall within the 
allowed budget. 
194 Food Detail 
Detail 
W eight 
Price per 
Estimated 
Number 
Type F ood 
in pounds 
pound 
cost 
01 
.Beef 
.60 
.1997 
.1198 
02 
. Margarine 
.15 
.1600 
.0240 
03 
. Flour, wheat 
.80 
.0350 
.0280 
04 
.Milk, fresh 
1 .00 
.0388 
. 0388 
05 
.Eggs, fresh 
.07 
.0349 
.0244 
06 
. Sugar, granulated . . . 
.15 
.05859 
.0088 
07 
Corn Syrup 
.10 
.0381 
.0038 
08 
.Coffee 
.10 
.1653 
.0165 
00 
. Potatoes 
1.00 
.0236 
.0236 
10 
. Tomatoes, canned . . . 
.60 
.0820 
. 0492 
11 
.Beans, Navy 
.10 
.0673 
.0067 
12 
.Apples, canned 
. 15 
.0649 
.0097 
13 
.Prunes 
.08 
.1380 
.0110 
14 
.Salt 
.10 
.0067 
.0007 
5.00 
.3650 
— 
Culinary Record Keeping 
To set up a poundage control 
certain forms are necessary. These 
forms are 10 in number as follows: 
tice in the home to put into the 
refrigerator some leftovers to be 
disposed of tomorrow, and the 
American ice box has been called 
the stepping stone to the garbage 
can. 
The institutional steward must 
prepare just enough food for the 
meal he is serving. To do this he 
makes the best possible estimate of 
consumption, taking into account 
the popularity of the dish, the 
number of persons served, the rela- 
tion of the dish in question to the 
rest of the meal, the type of work 
the prisoners are doing, and the 
weather. If, after making all these 
allowances, some food is still 
returned to the kitchen after the 
meal, it is immediately decided 
what disposition is to be made of 
it. If it cannot be used to advant- 
age, it is weighed and thrown out 
at once. Only food for a definite 
future use finds its way into the 
refrigerators. If valueless foods 
are stored in refrigerated spaces, 
not only the food is lost, but the 
space it took up and the cost of 
refrigeration have been wasted. 
(:uUnary Form 
Number Title 
1.. Breakfast Menu 
2. . .Dinner-Supper Menu 
3.. Menu Worksheet—Inmate 
4.. Menu Worksheet—Officers 
5. .. Daily Distribution Sheet 
6. .. Daily Poundage Sheet 
7.. . Cook’s Formula Sheet 
8.. . Baker’s Formula Sheet 
9.. . Inmate Record 
10... Quarterly Requisition 
Food Waste 
In the average home we do not 
think twice before discarding 
bread crusts. Potato parings may 
be very thick. And meat fat or 
suet renderings are cast away. 
Only in wartime is provision made 
for the collection of these waste 
fats. The quantity is small and 
the difference between saving these 
items and disposing of them will 
make little change in the home 
food budget. It is common prac- 
195 Food Preparation 
Preparation includes all proc- 
esses through which food passes up 
to the time it is placed on the serv- 
ing station. It includes use of 
formulas to prepare uniform menu 
items; care in preparation to con- 
serve nutritive value of the food; 
avoidance of excessive trimming 
losses in preparing food; preven- 
tion of pilfering, theft, or hand- 
outs; eye appeal by use of indivi- 
dual portions, garnishes, toast, 
and other devices; having all menu 
items ready on time but not too far 
ahead of time; and making all food 
as nearly comparable to a reputable 
commercial feeding operation as 
possible. 
The daily volume of food 
required to feed men in one of the 
larger institutions in the Federal 
Prison System is considerable. A 
noon meal menu might call for: 
Roast Beef Gravy 
Corn on the Cob 
Franconia Potatoes Cole Slaw 
Apple Pie 
Bread Margarine 
Coffee 
To serve this meal to two thou- 
sand men would require: 
The equivalent of two steers 
60 gallons of gravy 
4000 ears of corn 
12 bags of potatoes (100 lbs. to 
the bag) 
500 pounds of cabbage 
10 gallons of salad dressing 
340 pies containing 20 bushels 
of apples 
45 pounds of margarine 
300 leaves of bread 
80 pounds of coffee 
All services are coordinated so that 
each of the above items becomes 
available in the institution kitchen 
on the day in which it is to be 
prepared for this meal. 
Food Service 
Food service is the actual serv- 
ing of the food by inmate waiters. 
It includes attractive appearance 
and arrangement of the serving 
station or service; waiters clean, in 
uniform, and all dressed alike, 
wearing gloves if necessary; use of 
proper serving utensil for each 
menu item; proper table service in 
pouring coffee and serving bread; 
quick service as the line moves 
past the serving stations; control 
of portions; and proper place set- 
tings on the table. Use of paper 
napkins is encouraged as are drap- 
eries for windows, and other nice- 
ties which go to make a meal an 
event. The custodial personnel 
selected to direct the flow of traffic 
and to maintain order are experi- 
enced in the supervision of pris- 
oners. 
The institution dining hall must 
be a bright and cheerful place. 
Floors should be of tile, scrubbed 
after every meal, and walls attrac- 
tively finished in harmonizing 
colors. In many institutions murals 
or painting done by prisoners as a 
part of the institutional art project 
help provide the right atmosphere. 
Every institution has a menu 
board which is changed for each 
meal. Tables are set up with knife, 
fork, spoon, and paper napkin. On 
occasion table cloths are used. Cups, 
certain salads, some desserts, and 
sometimes even flowers are placed 
on the table. The dining halls are 
196 decorated for holidays. The pris- 
oner’s first visual contact with the 
meal is the dining hall. If what 
he sees is pleasing to the eye, he is 
well on the way to enjoying the 
whole meal. 
The meals are served in stainless 
steel compartment trays. Food is 
placed in the different compart- 
ments of the tray so that it never 
runs together, each item of food 
being in a separate compartment. 
Occasionally ice cream is served in 
paper cups, rock-hard, so that it 
does not melt while a prisoner is 
eating the rest of his meal. Bread 
may be obtained at the serving sta- 
tion or on the table, and bread is 
usually passed by white gloved 
waiters. Beverages are poured at 
the table to prevent spilling. 
At the serving stations hot foods 
are served hot, and cold foods cold. 
All prisoners receive equal portions 
of the food served. Proper utensils 
are used to serve each item; a 
disher for mashed potatoes, an off- 
set spatula for steaks or chops, slot- 
ted or perforated spoons for watery 
vegetables, and the like. When a 
pan is emptied it is removed to 
a back bar and a full pan is put in 
its place. Empty containers are 
kept covered; spilled food is im- 
mediately wiped up. No rags or 
unsightly containers are in view. 
Food is served with dispatch and 
as quietly as possible. 
Cleaning operations are not 
begun until the men have finished 
eating, and no one is required to 
scrape trays, or to gather them up 
after the meal. This is a part of 
the waiter’s job. 
It might seem that what is desir- 
able in a commercial cafeteria has 
no place in a prison. On the con- 
trary, an attractive dining hall, 
neat service, and appetizing meals, 
are of immense importance in insti- 
tutional management. An interest- 
ing room, and a gaily colored table 
cloth make mediocre food taste 
good, and good food taste better. 
Eye appeal, whenever it can be 
accomplished through the ingenu- 
ity of the steward, is money in 
the pocket of the taxpayer because 
it improves morale, helps the treat- 
ment program, and is a big factor 
in the prevention of waste. 
Food Sanitation 
In an institution sanitation is 
extremely important. The culi- 
nary units in the Federal Prison 
System are inspected weekly by the 
warden, the chief medical officer, 
and the sanitary supervisor, peri- 
odically by the United States Pub- 
lic Health Service, and almost daily 
by the steward himself. Every 
possible precaution is taken to pro- 
vide sanitary food units, because 
an epidemic of food poisoning 
would not only cause suffering on 
the part of prisoners for whose 
protection the Service is respon- 
sible, but might cost the G-overn- 
ment thousands of dollars. 
In making an inspection the 
steward uses a check sheet. This 
check sheet lists every room and 
every piece of equipment in the 
department which the steward must 
check for cleanliness and operation. 
If he is careful in the use of this 
check sheet, and corrects defects 
as they are discovered, he has noth- 
ing to fear from any other inspec- 
tion which is made. 
Cleanliness in working and eat- 
ing spaces is maintained by lavish 
197 use of soap and water, and by hard 
work. It is not obtained merely 
by the use of disinfectants. In other 
words, you do not cover up the dirt 
by changing the smell of the place. 
The cleanliness of a well-scrubbed, 
airy eating place is one of its finest 
assets. 
Dishwashing is a sterilizing pro- 
cess. Trays, cups, bowls, and pitch- 
ers are first washed, then put 
through a dishwasher containing a 
detergent solution and a sterilizing 
tank. They are dried by placing 
trays in racks so that air circulates 
between the trays. Towels are not 
used in dishwashing because they 
are unsanitary. 
No place can be clean unless the 
equipment used for cleaning is 
itself kept as nearly sterile as pos- 
sible. Mops must be washed and 
aired; mopping tanks flushed and 
cleaned inside and out; and‘dish- 
washers taken apart and all screens 
cleared of debris to allow for 
proper circulation of the cleaning 
solution. Clean plates never come 
out of a dirty machine. 
Special Services 
The culinary service also utilizes 
its facilities to supply the chaplain 
with his communion requirements. 
It prepares lunches for those who 
are working on projects at a dis- 
tance too great to bring the prison- 
ers back into the main institution 
for their meal. These may be sand- 
wiches or hot meals. 
Food for men held in isolation is 
also served from the main kitchen 
on trays carried directly to the 
cells. Three meals daily are always 
allowed, and bread and water 
alone are never used. Prisoners in 
segregation are fed an unseasoned 
and fairly monotonous but ade- 
quate diet, consisting of 2100 
calories of food per day, and con- 
taining any food except meat, 
eggs, or dessert. The nature of this 
diet is such that prisoners would 
rather have bread and water, since 
the bulky foods furnished serve 
only to put a keen edge on their 
appetite and keep them always 
hungry, while it is possible to 
adjust the stomach to bread and 
water. 
Operation of the staff dining 
room is also a function of the culin- 
ary service. An effort is made to 
serve an attractive and palatable 
meal on the salary deductions avail- 
able. A charge for maintenance is 
a part of these deductions which 
are at the rate of $5 per meal per 
month, with no allowances for meals 
missed or leave taken. Cards are 
not transferable, and guests must 
be provided with a cash meal ticket 
which costs 35 cents per meal. 
Culinary Personnel 
To operate a culinary service 
such as outlined, it is necessary to 
staff each culinary department with 
qualified, intelligent personnel, and 
to conduct a training program de- 
signed to qualify men in the lower 
grades for promotion to the jobs 
ahead so they may be offered these 
promotions when vacancies occur. 
The culinary positions in the 
Federal Prison Service have a basic 
annual salary range of from $2,040 
to $3,800 and include junior cook, 
senior cook, junior steward, senior 
steward, principal steward, and 
chief steward. 
198 The junior cook position is a 
trainee position and is used to 
qualify men who have had limited 
culinary training and who are con- 
sidered senior cook material. This 
position makes it possible for quali- 
fied custodial officers to enter the 
culinary service at no change in 
salary or grade. If they pass a 
practical performance test on cook- 
ing and baking, they may remain 
in this junior cook status until such 
time as they have acquired the skills 
and technique comparable to those 
of a senior cook, at which time they 
may be promoted to that grade 
without further tests or examina- 
tion. This position might also be 
held by a cook who was deemed too 
young or inexperienced to fulfill 
the duties of a senior cook, but 
in no case is it considered as a 
permanent position. 
Senior cooks are assistants to the 
head of a culinary unit, or may be 
the head of such unit in a small 
institution or camp. 
The junior steward is the assist- 
ant to the head of the culinary unit 
of a larger institution, or the head 
of that unit in an institution of 
from 300 to 600 prisoners. 
Institutions with a population of 
from 600 to 1,000 have a senior 
steward in charge of their culinary 
department, or a senior steward 
might be second to the head of one 
of the largest institutions. 
The principal steward acts as 
head of the culinary unit in the 
largest institutions and has at least 
a senior and a junior steward under 
his supervision. 
The chief steward has his head- 
quarters in the Bureau of Prisons 
in Washington and maintains cen- 
tral records for all culinary units. 
He makes occasional field trips to 
the institutions at which time dis- 
cussions of culinary problems are 
conducted with the warden, stew- 
ard, and others in the institution. 
The civilian culinary staff in in- 
stitutions up to 300 population con- 
sists of two men. Institutions of 
from 300 to 600 population rate 3 
to 4 men; 600 to 1,000 prisoners 
require 4 to 5 men; and the larger 
institutions require from 5 to 8 
men. The layout of the physical 
plant and the number of meals 
served, determine to a large extent 
the culinary staff necessary to oper- 
ate the institution. For instance, 
an institution which operates an in- 
dustry 24 hours daily, serves many 
more meals than one which operates 
only a day shift. 
A man can attain the grade of 
senior cook within the institution 
but before he can advance further, 
he must attend a central train- 
ing school which is held in Wash- 
ington, D, C., at the National 
Training School for Boys. By the 
time a man has attained the grade 
of senior cook, it is usually appar- 
ent whether or not he has the 
ability to go forward and warrants 
the expense involved in giving him 
the necessary training which will 
prepare him for positions in the 
advanced grades. 
This training course is of four 
weeks’ duration and is conducted 
by the chief steward. Practical 
tests, classwork, and discussions on 
cooking, baking and nutrition are 
included. The men learn Bureau 
culinary policies, preparation of 
menus, the training of others, and 
the preparation of the various culi- 
nary forms and how to use them. - 
199 Satisfactory completion of this 
course is no guarantee that the 
men will be promoted, but they are 
then in line for promotion when 
the opportunity presents itself. 
Worthy men are often transferred 
to some other institution to fill a 
vacancy that exists, if such trans- 
fer represents a promotion for 
them. 
In addition to the field contacts 
which the Chief Steward main- 
tains, there is a monthly publica- 
tion known as “The Bulletin 
Board”, a section of which “The 
Mixing Bowl” is devoted to culin- 
ary problems and discussions be- 
tween stewards. Other media for 
the transfer of information to the 
field are memoranda and bulletins 
in which stewards are informed of 
Bureau policies, given instruction 
or suggestions, or which forward 
other information and materials 
pertinent to the operation of the 
culinary department.1 
Inmate Training 
Prisoners are assigned to the 
culinary department as needed by 
the steward. An effort is made to 
assign men who might develop into 
cooks or bakers, and in no case is 
the culinary department consider- 
ed as a dumping ground for insti- 
tution misfits. The steward is given 
his fair share of problem cases, and 
in certain sections of the unit it is 
possible to use cripples an old men, 
but overstaffing is avoided. If men 
are to be taught useful work habits, 
it is not desirable to have two men 
available for each job to be done. 
Men assigned by the Classifica- 
tion Committee as “Trainee Cook” 
or “Trainee Baker” are given a 
course in cooking or baking begin- 
ning with cleaning, scrubbing and 
dishwashing, and working up to 
officers’ cook or baker. This course 
is conducted by any steward or 
cook who works with the man by 
giving an informal, on-the-job sort 
of training. Results of good train- 
ing are reflected in the pride of 
accomplishment which a well- 
trained prisoner cook or baker dis- 
plays in his daily work with foods, 
and the prisoner who leaves the in- 
stitution and finds employment in 
the profession as a cook or baker is 
a source of pride to the steward 
who trained him. A few such in- 
stitution-trained cooks who have 
been able to take their place in the 
community as responsible citizens 
justifies to the steward all the little 
inconveniences and petty annoy- 
ances with which he daily contends. 
i See Appendix B. 
200 A properly fed stomach sometimes is better than 
a guard’s stick as an instrument of rehabilitation. 
Food in New York State Prisons 
Director of Research, New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Nutrition 
Albert J. Abrams 
At a cost of about 10 cents a 
meal, the New York State 
Department of Correction, 
one of the largest purchasers of 
food in the State, prepares in its 
11 institutions approximately 17,- 
500,000 meals a year. 
Appraisal of diets should be 
tempered by realization that the 
food allowance granted to prisons 
is relatively low. 
Investigation of a cross-section of 
our State prisons and reformatories 
reveals: 
1. Prison diets are simple and 
filling but fall short of nutritional 
adequacy in several respects; 
2. Food waste could be reduced 
by employment of a nutritionist; 
3. Some prison kitchens, food 
and equipment are not as clean as 
they should be; 
4. Not a single prison has a train- 
ed dietician or nutritionist on its 
staff; 
5. State food inspectors do not 
have the authority to inspect State 
prisons. 
The small food allowance granted 
to prisons has made the task of 
prison authorities most difficult. 
Wardens have indicated an en- 
lightened willingness to take ad- 
vantage of any aid that food 
experts may provide. 
Nutrition in Prisons 
Menus in State prisons are pre- 
pared by institution stewards in 
conjunction with kitchen keepers 
and cooks, with the approval of the 
warden or superintendent. Prison 
food officials, usually men experi- 
enced in the practical aspects of 
institutional kitchen procedure, 
often lack training in modern die- 
tetics. 
The State Mental Hygiene De- 
partment has established a mini- 
mum daily ration allowance of 
basic foods for asylum patients. 
The Federal Prison Bureau has set 
up minimum daily vitamin and 
calory standards for Federal pri- 
soners. The State Department of 
Correction has set up no similar 
guide for its prison diets. 
Although there is no standard 
State prison meal, the following 
example is fairly typical of the 
meals being served: 
Breakfast; cereal, bread and cof- 
fee. 
Dinner: meat, one or two vege- 
tables, bread and coffee. 
Supper: soup, bread, coffee and 
cake. 
Prison meals are simple, inex- 
pensive and filling. But analysis 
indicates they are deficient in such 
essential nutrients as A, C and D. 
Long before current shortage 
and black market prices complicat- 
ed the problem, oranges, grape- 
fruit, lemons, tomatoes and other 
sources of vitamin C, essential to 
prevent sponge gums, stomach dis- 
201 Daily Allowance of State Mental Hygiene 
Department Compared with That of Food 
Served to Prisoners 
Prisons have been as hard hit as 
Mrs. Average Housewife by short- 
ages of various foods. Some prison 
cooks have exercised ingenuity, us- 
ing a variety of substitutes. 
The one fact that becomes most 
apparent in studying the prison’s 
nutritional problems is the urgent 
need for appointment of a nutri- 
tionist in the State Department of 
Correction. Food costs in prisons 
vary widely, ranging from 24 cents 
a day per prisoner in the Elmira 
Reformatory to 38 cents at Wall- 
kill. The Temporary Commission 
on State Economy pointed out that 
the variation in costs indicates need 
for central supervision of diets.1 
DAILY RATION IN MENTAL INSTITUTIONS 
FOOD SERVED TO ATTICA PRISONERS 
orders and scurvy, were conspicu- 
ously absent from prison menus. 
Prisoners receive an adequate 
amount of protein and carbohy- 
drates, but do not get as much milk 
or leafy vegetables as they need. 
Eggs have long been a rarity in 
prison menus. When two boiled 
eggs and an orange were served 
one Sunday morning at Sing Sing, 
a check-up by the warden revealed 
that two hundred more breakfasts 
had been served than there were 
prisoners. The inmates had been 
doubling up! 
i See Appendix E. 
202 PER CAPITA COST 
OF PRISON FOOD PER DIEM 
WALLK1LL 
ALBION 
SING SING 
WESTFIELD 
CLINTON 
ATTICA 
MATTEAWAN 
COXSACKIE 
DANNEMORA 
AUBURN 
GREAT 
MEADOW 
WOOD- 
BOURNE 
NAPANOCH 
ELMIRA 
The appointment of a nutri- 
tionist would also be helpful in 
advising prison cooks in proper 
methods of conserving vitamins in 
foods; in setting up minimum daily 
ration allowances; in preparing 
sample menus; and in eliminating 
inefficient kitchen practices. A 
large amount of food would be 
saved from spoilage. 
The In-Service Training Divi- 
sion of the State Education De- 
partment should hold an annual 
school for prison kitchen keepers, 
203 Bake shop of State Vocational Institution, West Coxsackie, New York 
cooks and other food handlers, so 
that they may learn the latest 
methods in the handling, storage 
and preparation of foods. 
Bread in prisons should be baked 
according to the “open formula” 
recommended by the State Emer- 
gency Food Commission. It should 
contain soybean flour. 
Low-cost dried brewer’s yeast 
should be added to prison food to 
assure that prisoners get enough of 
the vitamin B complex; this is par- 
ticularly important in time of food 
shortages. 
Sing Sing is the only prison in 
the United States known to permit 
prisoners who can afford to buy 
their own food to purchase and 
cook their own meals. A large bat- 
tery of cooking stoves is provided 
for prisoners who can buy their 
own food. This class system pri- 
vilege violates sound procedure. 
Many experts agree it should be 
terminated as soon as practicable. 
Food Sanitation 
Sanitary conditions in prisons 
vary widely. For example, at Sing 
Sing, conditions were found to be 
poor; at Matteawau and Great 
Meadow, quite good; and at Cox- 
sackie, only fair. ' 
At Sing Sing, our Committee 
staff found food with marked worm 
infestation. Weevils were found 
wherever flour was stored; roaches 
were found in food lockers and 
milling machines; maggots covered 
204 DAILY PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION Or 
VARIOUS FOODS FOR THE YEAR 1942-43 
MEAT 
POTATOES 
EGGS 
MILK 
BUTTER 
AUBURN 
GREAT MEADOW 
SING SING 
WALLKILL 
NAPANOCH 
WOODBOURNE 
205 Mess hall at Great Meadow Prison 
206 barrels of sauerkraut; cereal bags 
were playgrounds for mice; milk 
was kept at an improper tempera- 
ture ; some cans of food were found 
to be spoiled and leaking. 
The roach problem is serious in 
almost all prisons, except Mattea- 
wan which employs a professional 
exterminator to make monthly 
visits. At Great Meadow, the kit- 
chen, butcher shop, bakery and 
equipment were neat and clean, 
but roaches were prevalent in lock- 
ers used by inmates for storing 
their clothing in a room used for 
baked goods. 
Matteawan was clean, except for 
weevils found in the flour sifter and 
violations of the State slaughter- 
house regulations. At Coxsackie, 
mops and clean equipment were 
stored in the vegetable cooler; wee- 
vils were found in some rice and 
hominy; control over roach powder 
used in the kitchen was needed. 
Prison slaughterhouses are vio- 
lating many of the sanitary regula- 
tions imposed by the State on 
private slaughterers. Our prison 
slaughterhouses should abide by the 
State regulations. 
The State employs numerous 
expert food inspectors who examine 
food stores, processing plants, 
bakeries and restaurants. These 
men should be given authority by 
administrative rule to inspect State 
prisons periodically. 
Our Committee has devised, with 
the aid of Mr. Rex D. Stillwell, a 
State food inspector, a check-list1 
of 126 items to assist wardens in 
appraising accurately sanitary con- 
ditions in prison kitchens. 
Supervising officials and food 
handlers in correctional institu- 
tions should be informed as to the 
necessity for careful handling and 
storing of poisonous roach powders, 
the cause of many deaths in an 
Oregon institution recently. 
Inspection by State food experts 
plus the use of a little more “elbow 
grease” by prison employees and 
inmates will prove of enormous 
help in ending the unsatisfactory 
conditions now existing in some 
prisons. 
i See Appendix D, 
207 Feeding New York City Prisoners 
Peter F. Amoroso, M.D. 
Commissioner, New York City Department of Correction 
The possibility of inmate re- 
habilitation as recognized in 
our institutions made pris- 
oner feeding apparent as an impor- 
tant contributory factor in this 
vast program. 
Prior to ten years ago, very little 
attention was paid to this vitally 
necessary aspect of prison life, as 
typified by a menu of this period: 
Sunday 
Breakfast: Oatmeal and syrup 
Bread and coffee 
Dinner: Corned beef and cab- 
bage, potatoes, bread 
and water 
Supper: Bread and coffee 
Monday to Saturday Inclusive 
Breakfast: Bread and coffee 
Dinner: Soup meat, bread and 
water 
Supper: Bread and coffee 
Today the picture is widely dif- 
ferent. The responsibility of feed- 
ing the thousands of unfortunates 
who pass through the institutions 
of this department is vested in a 
Departmental Steward whose staff 
consists of an assistant and a die- 
titian, selected according to the 
qualifications set by the Municipal 
Civil Service Commission. This 
bureau is centrally located in the 
main office of the Department of 
Correction and from this point 
radiate the many divisions coming 
under its supervision. 
The Departmental Steward is re- 
sponsible for the ordering of all 
foods required in the preparation 
of the meals; requisitions from the 
various institutions are submitted 
on a monthly basis and quantities 
are determined according to the 
census in each prison. A careful 
study of current market conditions 
plays an important part in menu 
construction, and the members of 
this bureau keep in constant touch 
with the seasonal trends. 
Food purchasing is handled di- 
rectly by the Department of Pur- 
chase of the City of New York 
which in conjunction with the De- 
partment of Correction have estab- 
lished certain standards and speci- 
fications which are accepted by the 
food inspectors of the Department 
of Finance who are charged with 
the responsibility of certifying that 
all foods received comply with 
local, food and health regulations. 
The Steward’s Bureau maintains a 
diet kitchen laboratory where new 
items of food are constantly 
checked to determine whether or 
not they are adaptable to our type 
of feeding. New dishes and combi- 
nations are tested and when found 
practical are included in the regu- 
lar menus prepared for all institu- 
tions. 
In comparison to the aforemen- 
tioned menu, the following is one 
typical of our current food service: 
208 Sunday 
Breakfast: Stewed prunes, hominy 
with milk, bread, coffee. 
Dinner: Tomato-rice soup, roast 
beef, mashed turnips, potatoes, 
bread. 
Supper: Bologna, potato salad, 
beet relish, apple sauce, bread, 
coffee. 
Monday 
Breakfast: Stewed pears, whole- 
wheat cereal with milk, bread, 
coffee. 
Dinner: Barley soup, hamburger 
steak, potatoes, carrots, bread. 
Supper: Baked lima beans with 
pork, cabbage salad, lemon gela- 
tine, bread, coffee. 
Tuesday 
Breakfast: Apple sauce, rolled oats 
with milk, bread, coffee. 
Dinner: Vegetable soup, codfish 
cakes, potatoes, string beans, 
bread. 
Supper : Diced beef and vegetables, 
cole slaw, chocolate pudding, 
bread, coffee. 
Wednesday 
Breakfast: Stewed figs and raisins, 
cornflakes and milk, bread, cof- 
fee. 
Dinner : Split pea soup, fried liver, 
onion gravy, stewed corn, potato, 
bread. 
Supper: Macaroni and meat sauce, 
carrot-cabbage salad, cake, bread, 
coffee. 
Thursday 
Breakfast: Mixed fruit, farina with 
milk, bread, coffee. 
Dinner: Lentil soup, frankfurters, 
sauerkraut, potatoes, bread. 
Supper: Spanish rice, cole slaw, 
applesauce, bread, coffee. 
Friday 
Breakfast: Apple butter, cream of 
wheat with milk, bread, coffee. 
Dinner: Brown onion soup, fresh 
fish, spinach, potatoes, bread. 
Supper: Boiled eggs, French fried 
potatoes, bread pudding, bread, 
coffee. 
Saturday 
Breakfast: Stewed pears, rolled 
oats with milk, bread, coffee. 
Dinner: Celery soup, lamb stew 
with vegetables, bread. 
Supper: Baked navy beans with 
pork, pickled beets, strawberry 
gelatine, bread, coffee. 
Federal System Used 
The Federal system of food ra- 
tioning is used as the basis of all 
menu preparations, and it has 
been found most acceptable for in- 
stitutional feeding. This Federal 
system is the result of an extensive 
study made by the Department of 
Agriculture of the Federal Bureau 
of Prisons. Because of the fact 
that the majority of inmates are en- 
gaged in productive activities, they 
require substantial meals and for 
this reason it has been found best 
to average about twenty-five hun- 
dred calories per day for each pris- 
oner. The average cost of an in- 
mate’s meal for one day is .279 
cents. The cost of feeding, under 
the present conditions, is largely 
determined by the fact that certain 
items formerlv used are no longer 
209 available; it has become exceed- 
ingly difficult to obtain a number 
of food items, thereby substitution 
is necessary in almost all classes of 
food. 
In each of the institutions, there 
is a staff of full time paid cooks 
who have direct supervision over 
the preparation of all food and the 
serving of all meals. They are 
assisted in their duties by inmates 
who have been selected by the 
Classification Board on the basis of 
previous experience. Naturally, 
experience in kitchen work is an 
important factor as it facilitates 
the training in institutional pro- 
cedure ; a correlation is sought be- 
tween previous skills and the type 
of work available to assure a trans- 
fer of training. In many instances, 
inmates who have had very little or 
no previous kitchen experience are 
taught the fundamentals of food 
preparation. Therefore, the cooks 
not only supervise and actually 
prepare the meals but they assist in 
the rehabilitation by teaching in- 
mates a trade that will enable them 
to be better suited for their adjust- 
ment when released. All employees 
and inmates, before being assigned 
to kitchen duties, are subject to a 
thorough medical and physical ex- 
amination to assure freedom from 
disease and afflictions that might 
render them a source of danger in 
handling food. 
All food served to inmates is pre- 
pared in one central kitchen; this 
central control obviously reduces 
the problem of waste and also tends 
to maintain the morale by eliminat- 
ing favoritism; at no time are in- 
mates permitted to prepare their 
own meals in their respective cells. 
Jn most institutions, the cafeteria 
method of serving food has been 
found most effective. Tins system 
facilitates the serving of hot foods 
to the largest number of inmates in 
the shortest possible time. Service 
from the cafeteria counter is under 
the direct supervision of a civilian 
cook and a custodial officer. 
The institutional kitchens, mess- 
halls and storerooms are open to in- 
spection by Health Department in- 
spectors at any and all times. Bach 
of the institutions has a sanitation 
committee who is responsible for 
maximum sanitary standards at all 
times. Equipment used in the 
preparation and serving of food 
must be kept in a high degree of 
cleanliness and ready for instant 
usage. 
Food Conservation 
A recent innovation started in 
all of our institutions is the care- 
ful record required of each cook 
showing the exact amount of gar- 
bage or left over food immediately 
upon the completion of each meal. 
This report is prepared after all 
left over foods are carefully 
weighed and checked against the 
total census of the institution, 
thereby furnishing the department 
with a clear picture of actual con- 
sumption. This report has indi- 
cated consistently that our waste 
is at a minimum and substantiates 
our efforts in planning satisfac- 
tory and adequate meals for those 
“behind bars.” 
In conclusion, feeding of the 
prisoners of the City of New York 
is one of the most important func- 
tions of the Department of Correc- 
tion. 
210 APPENDIX A 
RESOLUTION CONTINUING THE NEW YORK STATE 
JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION 
FEBRUARY 10, 1944 
By Mr. Desmond: 
Whereas, The joint legislative 
committee to study nutritional 
problems, created by resolution 
adopted April sixteen, nineteen 
hundred forty-two, and continued 
by resolution adopted by the nine- 
teen hundred forty-three legisla- 
ture, has been actively engaged in 
studying and investigating the 
problems relating to nutritional 
deficiencies and their effect upon 
the health of our people, and es- 
pecially upon the war workers of 
this state, and 
Whereas, The committee has in- 
vestigated the need for factory 
canteens in war plants,, vitamin 
feeding of war workers, organiza- 
tion of the state’s nutritional serv- 
ices, fortification of foods, the 
penny-milk and school lunch pro- 
gram, diets in prisons and black 
markets in food, and 
Whereas, There is an urgent 
need not only for continuation of 
these investigations but also for 
dietary surveys to determine the 
impact of price changes and ration- 
ing upon the various economic 
levels of our population and for 
additional studies of new problems 
directly affecting the nutritional 
status of our people, such as post- 
war, nutritional problems; now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved (if the Assembly con- 
cur), That the joint legislative 
committee to study nutritional 
problems, created by resolution 
adopted April sixteen, nineteen 
hundred forty-two, and continued 
by resolution adopted by the nine- 
teen hundred forty-three legisla- 
ture, be and it is hereby further 
continued, to consist of four mem- 
bers of the senate to be appointed 
by the temporary president of the 
senate and four members of the 
assembly to be appointed by the 
speaker of the assembly with full 
power and authority to continue 
its studies and investigations of 
the proper role the state should 
play in relationship to nutrition, 
and be it further 
Resolved (if the Assembly con- 
cur), That such inquiry shall in- 
clude a detailed dietary survey and 
a study of the post-war nutritional 
problems which may affect our 
people; and be it further 
Resolved (if the Assembly con- 
cur), That the study and investi- 
gation hereby authorized is not 
limited to specific matters herein 
mentioned or enumerated but the 
committee in the conduct of such 
investigation may inquire into 
every matter and thing considered 
to be relevant to the problems of 
nutrition, even though not specifi- 
cally mentioned herein to the same 
extent as though specific power and 
authority therefor were expressly 
granted herein; and be it further 
Resolved (if the Assembly con- 
cur), That such committee shall 
211 organize by the selection from its 
number of a chairman, a vice-chair- 
man and a secretary and shall em- 
ploy and may at pleasure remove a 
research director and other em- 
ployees and assistants as may be 
necessary, and fix their compensa- 
tion within tbe amounts made 
available therefor herein. Any va- 
cancy in the membership of the 
committee shall be filled by the offi- 
cer authorized to make the original 
appointment. The members of the 
committee shall serve without com- 
pensation for their services but 
shall be entitled to their actual ex- 
penses incurred in the performance 
of their duties hereunder. Such 
committee may sit at any place 
within the state as it may deter- 
mine to conduct its labors, and it 
may hold either public or private 
hearings. Such committee or any 
member thereof shall have power 
to subpoena witnesses, administer 
oaths, take testimony and compel 
the production of books, papers, 
documents and other evidence and 
it shall have generally all the 
powers of a legislative committee 
as provided by the legislative law. 
Such committee may request and 
shall receive from all public officers 
and departments and agencies of 
the and its political subdivi- 
sions, such assistance and data as 
will enable it properly to consum- 
mate its investigations; and be it 
further 
Resolved (if the Assembly con- 
cur), That the committee shall re- 
port to the legislature on or before 
March first, nineteen hundred and 
forty-five the results of its studies 
and investigations and shall sub- 
mit with its report such legislative 
proposals as it deems necessary to 
make its recommendations effec- 
tive ; and be it further 
Resolved (if the Assembly con- 
cur), That the sum of fifteen 
thousand dollars ($15,000), or so 
much thereof as may be necessary, 
is hereby appropriated from the 
legislative contingent fund and 
made immediately available to pay 
the expenses of the committee, in- 
cluding personal service, in carry- 
ing out the provisions of this reso- 
lution. Such moneys shall be pay- 
able after audit by and upon the 
warrant of the comptroller on 
vouchers certified or approved by 
the chairman of the committee in 
the manner provided by law. 
To Finance Committee. March 
17 report. Adopted. March 18 in 
Assembly. Adopted. Chapter 315, 
Laws of 1944. 
212 APPENDIX B 
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICI 
Bureau of Prisons 
Memorandum to all Wardens and Culinary Officers; 
Subject: The rating of menus. 
In order to create an interest in the making of menus, we have decided to 
score all monthly menus on the basis of one hundred percent. 
The method of scoring is given below. It is planned that the first scoring will 
take place in August. Save the memorandum in order to be able to check 
your scores. 
Scoring the Menus 
BREAKFAST. 25 points. 
1. At least four servings of fresh fruit per month 5 points 
2. 50-50 ratio of cooked to dry cereal 5 points 
3. Milk ration up to standard 5 points 
4. Interesting special breads each day 5 points 
5. Interesting main dish (hot cakes, French toast, meat, eggs or 
potatoes) not less than four times 5 points 
DINNER. 40 points. 
1. Variety of soups not less than six times 5 points 
2. Interesting variety of meat dishes 5 points 
3. Gravy, oleo or spread each dinner 5 points 
4. Not less than eight varieties of potatoes 5 points 
5. Interesting preparation of fresh cook vegetables (canned in Winter) 5 points 
6. Interesting salads not less than ten times 5 points 
7. Desserts not less than six times of which at least three are frozen.. 5 points 
8. Hot bread or whole grain breads not less than 8 times 5 points 
SUPPER. 35 points. 
1. Interesting variety of soups 5 points 
2. Interesting variety of main supper dishes 
a. Spaghetti, etc., not more than 3 times as a main dish. 
b. Beans not more than 7 times as a main dish. 
c. Cold meats such as bologna not more than 4 times as a cold 
super dish 10 P°}n^s 
3. Interesting salads not less than 10 times 5 points 
4. Use of cold tomatoes not less than 6 times 5 points 
5. Pie on the menu not less than 8 times 5 points 
6. Variety of desserts 5 points 
W. T. HAMMACK, 
Assistant Director 
WASHINGTON 
213 nstitution, Texarkana, Texas. Wbek Ending December 7, 194» 
DATE 
Fruits 
Cereal 
Milk, 
X = fresh 
Oleo or gravy 
Special bread 
Bread, 
X = white 
X = Sugar, 
iff = syrup 
spread 
Potatoes 
Eggs and meats 
Beverage, 
X = coffee 
1 
Stewed apples 
Corn flakes 
X 
Oleo 
Butterscotch rolls 
X 
X 
X 
2 
Stewed prunes 
Hominy grits 
X 
Oleo 
Vanilla buns 
X 
X 
X 
3 
One-half 
grapefruit 
Bran flakes 
X 
Oleo 
Hot cakes 
X 
X & » 
X 
4 
Fresh apples 
Rolled oats 
X 
Oleo 
Butterfly buns 
X 
X 
X 
5 
One-half 
grapefruit 
Rice Krispies 
X 
Oleo 
Doughnuts 
X 
X 
X 
6 
Stewed prunes 
Ralston 
X 
Oleo 
Sugar buns 
X 
X 
X 
7 
Oranges 
Wheat flakes 
X 
Oleo 
Cinnamon rolls 
X 
X 
X 
APPENDIX C 
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 
BUREAU OF PRISONS 
MENU 
INMATE 
BREAKFAST 
214 DATE 
Soup 
Crackers, 
• etc. 
Meat 
or 
fish 
Bean or 
spaghetti 
dishes, etc. 
cheese 
Gravy, 
oleo or 
spread 
Sauce 
Potatoes 
Roots 
Leafy, 
green, etc., 
vegetables 
Salad 
or fresh 
fruit 
Salad 
dressing 
Bread 
Beverage 
Dessert 
Dessert 
sauce 
1 
Swiss steak 
Brown 
Tomato 
Mashed 
Green 
beans 
Vegetable 
• 
♦ 
2 
Roast pork 
Sage 
dressing 
Cream 
Apple 
Baked 
sweet 
Green 
onions 
Sauerkraut 
Hot rolls 
« 
Hot tea 
3 
Baked 
fish 
Brown 
Tomato 
Baked 
Escalloped 
tomatoes 
Cole slaw 
• 
♦ 
« 
Lemon pie 
4 
Vegetable 
Crackers 
Fried pork 
sausage 
Raisin 
dressing 
Brown 
Apple 
O’Brien 
Succotash 
W.W.& 
* 
5 
Baked ham 
Brown 
Mustard 
Mashed 
Tender 
greens 
Lettuce 
* 
Hot cocoa 
Vanilla ice 
cream 
6 
Roast beef 
Buttered 
noodles 
Pan 
Au gratin 
Buttered 
peas and 
carrots 
Piccalilli 
♦ 
7 
Baked 
beans 
Macaroni 
and 
cheese 
Brown 
Catsup 
Sliced 
onions 
Sliced 
pickles 
Buttered 
spinach 
Corn & * 
Iced punch 
Orange 
cream 
pie 
APPENDIX C (Continued) 
DINNER 
215 DATE 
Soup 
Crackers, 
etc. 
Meat 
or 
fish 
Bean or 
spaghetti 
dishes, etc., 
cheese 
Gravy, 
oleo or 
spread 
Sauce 
Potatoes 
Roots 
Leafy, 
green, etc., 
vegetables 
Salad 
or fresh 
fruit 
Salad 
dressing 
Bread 
Beverage 
Dessert 
Dessert 
sauce 
1 
Vegetable 
Crackers 
Baked hash 
Buttered 
noodles 
Brown & * 
Cold 
tomatoes 
Hot rolls 
& * 
* 
Tapioca 
pudding 
2 
Beef pot 
pie 
Fried 
hominy 
♦ 
Boiled lima 
beans 
Cabbage & 
carrot 
Piccalilli 
♦ 
* 
Chocolate 
pie 
3 
Scrambled 
eggs 
Broiled 
bacon 
♦ 
French 
baked 
Creamed 
carrots 
* & hot 
biscuits 
* 
Chocolate 
ice cream 
4 
Crackers 
Chili con 
came 
Steamed 
rice 
* 
Boiled kid- 
ney beans 
Vegetable 
* 
* 
Chocolate 
eclairs 
5 
Tomato & 
rice 
Crackers 
Sliced 
bologna 
Creamed 
cheese 
* 
Macaroni 
salad 
Cold 
tomatoes 
* 
* 
Fruit 
pudding 
6 
Meat sauce 
Plain 
spaghetti 
♦ 
Lyonnaise 
Buttered 
beets 
Tomato & 
lettuce 
Hot rolls 
& * 
* 
Pineapple 
cream 
pie 
7 
Tomato & 
spaghetti 
Crackers 
Peach frit. 
& syrup 
♦ 
Steamed 
Green peas 
Vegetable 
♦ 
Maplenut 
ice cream 
APPENDIX C (Continued) 
SUPPER 
216 APPENDIX D 
SUGGESTED INSPECTOR’S REPORT 
STATE OF NEW YORK 
State Institution—Food Inspection Report 
Date. Time of Inspection. County 
Name of Institution Address 
Superintendent Steward 
Number of Kitchens Specify name of kitchen below: 
A. Kitchen Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 
1. Are walls and ceilings clean and cleanable? 
2. Is there adequate light and ventilation? 
3. Are floors clean and in satisfactory repair? 
4. Are all openings to the outer air screened 
during the fly season — 
5. Is the kitchen free from flys? 
6. Is the kitchen free from all insects and 
rodents? 
7. Are foodstuffs properly stored? 
8. Is adequate refrigeration provided? 
9. Are refrigerators clean and in repair? 
10. Are thermometers in satisfactory operating 
condition? 
11. Is the quality of food on hand good? 
12. Are equipment and utensils properly 
cleaned? 
13. Are equipment and utensils properly con- 
structed? ._ _. - 
14. Are garbage containers satisfactory? 
15. Is there proper disposal and handling of 
garbage? 
16. Are dining rooms and equipment clean? *. 
17. Are toilet and washrooms clean and in re- 
18. Do institution employees wear clean outer 
clothing? - 
19. Is the appearance of the institutional em- 
ployees satisfactory? 
20. Do theinstitutional employees use properly 
sanitary methods? - 
21. Do inmate employees wear clean outer 
22. Is the appearance of the inmate employees 
satisfactory? 
23. Do inmate employees use properly sanitary 
methods? _ _ - 
24. Is the general condition of the kitchen 
satisfactory? 
B. Bekery Yes No 
25. Are walls and ceilings clean and cleanable? 
26. Is there adequate light and ventilation? — 
27. Are floors clean and in satisfactory repairs? 
28. Are all openings to the outer air screened during the fly season? 
29. Is the bakery free from flies? 
30. Is the bakery free from all insects and rodents? ._ ; 
31. Are the following utensils clean and in satisfactory repair? (Underline 
dirty or unsatisfactory equipment and/or utensils) 
Flour-sifter, bread-mixer, cake-mixer, troughs, oven, proofbox, tables, 
bins, tool drawer, tables, divider, brushes, scrapers, racks, rolling pins, 
scales, containers, pans, jelly filler, jelly bags, sieves, hand-bowls, 
slicing-machine, doughnot equipment, other equipment. 
32. Is flour storage satisfactory? 
33. Are other ingredients stored satisfactory? 
34. Are there adequate toilet and handwashing facilities? - 
35. Are toilet and washrooms clean and in repair? 
36. Is adequate refrigeration provided? 
37. Are refrigerators clean and in repair? ; 
38. Are thermometers in satisfactory operating condition? 
39. Do institution employees wear clean outer clothing? 
40. Is the appearance of the institutional employees satisfactory? 
41. Do the institutional employees use properly sanitary methods? 
42. Do inmate employees wear clean outer clothing? 
43. Is the appearance of the inmate employees satisfactory? 
44. Do inmate employees use properly sanitary methods? 
45. Is the general condition of the bakery satisfactory? — — 
217 C. Storehouse 
46. Is the storehouse properly constructed? 
47. Are the walls and ceilings of all rooms clean and cleanable? 
48. Are the floors of all rooms clean and in satisfactory repairs? 
49. Are all food-stuff's properly stored? 
50. Is adequate refrigeration provided? 
51. Are all perishable foods and cereals subject to insect infestation held under 
refrigeration? 
52. Are the temperatures correct for the goods stored? 
53. Are the thermometers in satisfactory repair? 
64. Is the quality of the food stored apparently satisfactory? 
55. Are there adequate toilet and handwashing facilities? 
56. Are toilet and washroom clean and in repair? 
57. Do institution employees wear clean outer clothing? 
58. Is the appearance of the institutional employees satisfactory? 
59. Do the institutional employees use properly sanitary methods? 
60. Do inmate employees wear clean outer clothing? 
61. Is the appearance of the inmate employees satisfactory? 
62. Do inmate employees use properly sanitary methods? 
63. Is the general condition of the storehouse satisfactory? 
D. Butcher Shop 
64. Are walls and ceilings clean and cleanable? 
65. Is there adequate light and ventilation? . 
66. Are floors clean and in satisfactory repair?. .._ 
67. Are all openings to the outer air screened during the fly season? 
68. Is the butcher shop free from flys? 
69. Is the butcher shop free from all insects and rodents? 
70. Are the following utensils clean and in satisfactory repair? (Underline 
dirty or unsatisfactory equipment and/or utensils) 
Blocks, sheer, grinder, knives, cleavers, saws, containers, other utensils. 
71. Is adequate refrigeration provided?. 
72 Are refrigerators clean and in repair?..._ 
73. Are thermometers in satisfactory operating condition? 
74. Are there adequate toilet and handwashing facilities? 
75. Are toilet and washrooms clean and in repair? 
76. Do institution employees wear clean outer clothing? 
77. Is the appearance of the institutional employees satisfactory? 
78. Do the institutional employees use properly sanitary methods? 
79. Do inmate employees wear clean outer clothing? 
80. Is the appearance of the inmate employees satisfactory? 
81. Do inmate employees use properly sanitary methods? 
82. Is the general condition of the butcher shop satisfactory? 
E. Cannery 
83. State foods canned 
84. Are walls and ceilings clean and cleanable? 
85. Are floors clean and in satisfactory repairs? 
86. Is there adequate light and ventilation? 
87. Is the cannery free from all insects and rodents? 
88. Are equipment and utensils clean and in satisfactory repair? 
89. Is the equipment of sanitary construction? 
91. Is there adequate waste and sewage disposal? 
92. Is there an approved water supply? 
93. Is the quality of the raw materials used satisfactory? 
94. Is the quality of the finished product satisfactory? 
95. Is the general condition of the cannery satisfactory? 
F. Abattoir 
96. Number of animals slaughtered monthly Cattle 
Calves Swine Fowl Other 
97. Is the building of proper construction? 
98. Are walls and ceilings clean and cleanable? 
99. Are walls and ceilings of suitable material? 
100. Is the killing floor clean? 
101. Is the killing floor made of concrete? 
102. Is it sloped to properly trapped drains? 
103. Is the building weather-proof? 
104. Are all openings to the outer air screened during the fly season? 
105. Is the abattoir free from flys? 
106. Is the abattoir free from all insects and rodents? 
107. Is the water supply satisfactory? 
108. Are the surroundings satisfactory? 
109. Is offal cooked if fed to pigs? 
110. Is slaughtering done under inspection of veterinary? 
111. Are proper wastage receptacles provided? 
112. Is adequate refrigeration provided? 
113. Are refrigerators clean and in repair? ..._ ; 
114. Are thermometers in satisfactory operating condition? 
115. Are all tools and utensils clean? 
116. Are there satisfactory facilities for cleaning up? 
117. When did slaughtering operations last occur? 
218 118. Are there adequate toilet and handwashing facilities? 
119. Are toilet and washrooms clean and in repair? 
120. Do institution employees wear clean outer clothing? 
121. Is the appearance of the institutional employees satisfactory? 
122. Do the institutional employees use properly sanitary methods? 
123. Do inmate employees wear clean outer clothing? 
124. Is the appearance of the inmate employees satisfactory? 
125. Do inmate employees use properly sanitary methods? 
126. Is the general condition of the abattoir satisfactory? 
******** 
Where questions are answered “ No ” explain all facts in detail in this space. 
State any objections whether or not they are covered in the above report. 
Make specific recommendations here. 
inspector 
219 APPENDIX E 
From Report of the Temporary Economy Commission 
(Leg. Doc. 50, 1943) 
TABLE 
Department of Correction 
AVERAGE DAILY AND ANNUAL COST OF FOOD PER INMATE (1942) 
Source: Prom data submitted by Department of Correction. 
Average 
Cost of Food 
per 
Inmate 
Groups According to 
Average Daily Census 
Institutions 
Day 
Year 
2,343 
. Sing Sinsr 
$.284 
$104 
. Attica 
.256 
93 
2,125 
. Clinton 
.241 
88 
1,609 
. Auburn 
.233 
85 
l'570 
Matteawan 
.249 
91 
1,499 
Elmira 
.236 
86 
1,456 
Great Meadow 
.249 
91 
1,211 
Dannemora 
.248 
91 
966 
Napanoch 
.248 
91 
714 
Coxsackie 
.238 
87 
656 
Woodbourne 
.259 
95 
442 
,. Wallkill 
.245 
89 
440 
Westfield 
.362 
132 
316 
,. Albion 
.311 
114 
The above costs include only food 
purchased and the established value 
of farm produce used for meals. 
It does not include any of the costs 
incidental to the preparation of the 
meals such as personal service, gas, 
coal and electricity. Therefore, the 
locations and numbers of kitchens 
and dining rooms used within each 
institution for the preparation and 
serving of meals would not influ- 
ence these costs. 
That some institutions are far 
out of line in the cost of meals is 
obvious and suggests a lack of cen- 
tral office control in establishing 
and requiring strict adherence to 
a well-defined policy. 
An intensive study should he 
conducted to formulate a satisfac- 
tory program with respect to food 
costs in relation to dietary needs 
and the central office should require 
strict compliance to such program 
hr all institutions. 
Among- the factors which alleg- 
edly influence such costs is the 
number of meals served. The cost 
per-meal of the institutions with au 
average daily census of over 2,000 
is higher than those with au average 
population of between 1,000 and 
2,000 and, in some instances, the 
institutions with the average num- 
ber of inmates less than 1,000 are 
among the lowest in cost. 
220 Within the groups are striking 
variations such as between Attica 
and Clinton in the first group; Eh 
mira and Great Meadow in the sec- 
ond group; and Wallkill and West- 
field in the third group. 
The difference in cost of $5 per 
vear between each inmate confined 
in Attica and Clinton, also between 
those in Elmira and Great Meadow, 
may not seem to be remarkable, but 
this relatively moderate amount if 
related to the total inmate popula- 
tion amounts to more than $87 
thousand. 
221 PRODUCE 
AND 
CONSERVE 
SHARE 
AND 
PLAY SQUARE 
—,—,— 
ior freedom