Food and freedom

Unfortunately, of what we ha-ve been accused is in many respects too true — the people of Amer- ica are commonly without scientific and practical knowledge on the entire question of food and wise and economical family feeding, while 30 per cent., it has been estimated, are guilty of extravagant living and the use of more food than is normally necessary. "The food waste in the household, the experts assert, results in large measure from bad preparation and bad cooking, from improper care and handling, and in well-to-do families from serving an undue number of courses and an over- abundant supply, and failing to save and utilize the food not consumed. As an instance of im- proper handling, it is discovered that in the preparation of potatoes 20 per cent, of the edible portion in many cases is discarded." ^ ^ Report of the Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, March, 191 7. OUR EMERGENCY 7 Lack of food knowledge, combined with lack of organization and food thrift in the home, and its attendant waste, and the effect of this on the homes of America, our country as a whole, and the complex relationship now existing between our own food problem and the food problem of the world — this is in reality our biggest emergency. It must be faced with an open mind, with clear thinking and definite action. It can only be rem- edied by the will to remedy it, and the method is the wisest kind of food administration in its biggest and broadest sense, based on the soundest kind of food and home-making knowledge and its practice. If, as Herbert Hoover has told us, the ultimate success of food administration really rests upon the ** intelligent management of the American housewives in our twenty-two million homes," and that, after all, "only the guiding hand of woman can control," the position that the American woman now holds in the life of the world, the free- dom and strength of our own country, and the happiness and efficiency of the American home is, indeed, a strategic one. II WHAT YOU CAN DO You are a great army drafted by conscience into what is now the most urgent activity — that of increasing and conserving the food-supply. — Herbert Hoover. HEN the fighting nations of Europe f"^ felt the actual possibilities of famine, when they realized that the food-sup- ply was decreasing as their food needs increased, they immediately turned their atten- tion to some effective form of food control — involving increased production, fair division, and practical diet regulations. In Italy, France, and England — although decided central measures in connection with the certain staple foods and the fixing of prices developed as conditions grew more serious — the cry for help through government food control came from the people, and the real strength of the measures adopted lay in the "voluntary co-operation of the households." In relentless Germany, almost entirely cut off from any outside food help, government food-control WHAT YOU CAN DO 9 was forced on the people and household co-opera- tion required by law." ^ "Russia, with perhaps the greatest possibilities of food production in Europe, did nothing at all, and out of Russia's food situation grew her revolution." ^