OILS WE EAT 



have always been some great shifts and switches. Since 

 the use as food is incomparably the largest and most 

 compelling, we face postwar readjustments in the three 

 great oils we eat: cottonseed, soybean, and peanut, 

 with lard and butter. The new equilibrium will involve 

 some intersectional complications between the South 

 and the Midwest. 



Socially and politically, margarine has made friends 

 and learned to influence people during the war. Coaxed 

 by butter shortages and ration-point differentials into 

 using margarine for the first time, thousands of house- 

 wives have been surprised at its goodness. This is re- 

 markable because, owing to shortages of its own, war- 

 time margarine, like wartime rayon and synthetic rub- 

 ber, was not as good as the manufacturers knew how 

 to produce. The flavor of margarine at its best has 

 fooled expert butter- tasters in official tests. Dean Shep- 

 ardson's opinion has been confirmed by many citizens 

 who, a few years ago, would not have dared to believe 

 even the testimony of their own taste. Furthermore, 

 margarine's distressing habit of spluttering and acting 

 queerly in the frying pan has been cured by more per- 

 fect emulsions. With this serious drawback removed, 

 an honest, straightforward demand for the product on 

 its own merits is rapidly building up in this country. 



Because margarine is now made entirely from Amer- 

 ican farm products, it has won political friends. It was 

 first made from oleo, refined beef fat, hence its original 



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