490 SYMPOSIUM ON FOOD PROBLEMS 



months. It could be done in a considerably shorter time. When the 

 weight is once lowered, and the calorie intake adjusted to holding 

 the weight at that level, the patriot may feel assured that he or she 

 is really making some positive contribution toward food conserva- 

 tion and making it possible to send liberally to our allies and to 

 our own men much-needed supplies. 



I cannot feel that an alteration in the army diet is justifiable at 

 present. It is bad policy " to swap horses in the middle of the 

 stream." The fighting unit may well be exempted from innovations 

 but let the civilian population give this whole project a thorough, 

 honest test, recognizing that while there may be, in certain cases, 

 an element of hazard and in many cases an element of discomfort, 

 the possibilities for danger in accomphshing a weight reduction of 

 lo per cent, are negligible. The calories thereby saved are by no 

 means negligible, but with the sum total of our population would 

 feed an enormous army. 



