February ly, 19 16] 



N4Ta^^ 



687 



HE DAILY FOOD RATI OX 

 BRITAIN.^ 



OF GREAT 



C i:\'ERAL estimates of the food supply of Great 



<^ Britain, in whole or in part, have been published 



recent years. But in none of these has a com- 



ation been made of the "foodstuffs" contained in 



food, or of the energy which it furnishes' to the 



nan body. Yet these are the only standards which 



>ly to all foods, whether solid or liquid, and taken 



/ ther constitute the only applicable test bv which 



supply can be properly gauged. Thus we can onlv 



whether the supply is sufficient, excessive, or 



cient, when we know the quantities of protein, 



bohydrate, and fat, and the amount of energy it 



\ ides per day to the consumer. Further, it is only 



^ a we have this knowledge that we can intelli- 



itly proceed to substitute articles of diet for others 



ich may have been cut off or rendered scarce from 



any cause. 



Such a survey of the food supply of Ireland has 

 recently been made by the writer, and it seemed desir- 

 able that a corresponding inventory should be taken 

 of that of Great Britain. 



To do this, an independent estimate had in the first 

 instance to be made of the total food of the countrv, 

 both imported and home produced. This could onlv 

 be done, with any degree of accuracy, for one 

 particular year, that of the "Census of Production." 

 So far the results of only one such census have been 



Net impons 



Hitter 4.834,722 cwls 



Cheese 2,207,459 cwts 



Milk and creani ... ... 63,7iogals. 



(?niKlense(l inilk 1,1 13,087 cwts 



I'.i^s4s ... .. ... 24 609,266 ^t. bunds. 



.Margarine 814,854 cwts 



I Wished, namely, for the year 1908. Accordingly the 

 pey applies to this particular year; but there is 

 ■y reason to suppose that it would apply equally 

 ■ to any year of the last decade. The returns from 

 |bh the quantities of the different food materials 

 ve been made are : — (i) Those of the Board of 

 Trade, which give the imports and exports; (2) those 

 of the Board of .Agriculture, which give the home 

 plies; (3) those of the Departments of Fisheries 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland, which give the 



I landed; and (4) lastly, those given iii the Final 

 >rt of the First Census of Production, which 

 lement the others in necessary ways. 

 The Food Supplies. 

 lese wece collected under the following heads, 

 ily : — (i) Cereal fcxxis ; (2) vegetables; (3) meat; 

 sh ; (5) dairy products, eggs, margarine ; (6) fruit ; 

 ther foods. It is only possible to give here short 

 'MTTiaries of the estimates. 

 ! ) Cereal Foods. — The.se include wheat flour and 

 1, oatmeal, rice, barley flour, maize meal, and 

 ler farinaceous foods." The total supply is made 

 follows : — 



imports Home produce Total 



951 cwts. ... 23,395.795 cwts. ... 90 902,746 cwts. 



is to say, 74 per cent, of our cereal food supph- 

 ported and 26 per cent, home grown. 

 Vegetables. — In this category are included pota- 

 onions, tomatoes, cabbage and other green 

 vegetables, carrots, beet, turnips, parsnips, celery, 

 rhubarb, peas, and beans. The supplies are as fol- 

 lows : — 



Net imports Home ^^roduce Total 



16,360,000 cwts. ... 94.423,64^ cwts. ... 110,783,640 cwts. 



^ AttriUeed from ac->mnrninicaiion t'^lhe Royal r>uhlin Po'iety, Octob:r a6. 

 »•}»;, entitled, "A Cilculation of the Food Stuffs and Eiierzy of Great 

 »^''-^in's Food Supply." 



j That is to say, 15 per cent, of our vegetables are 

 imported and 85 per cent, home grown. 



(3) Meat. — The supplies comprise beef and veal, 

 mutton and lamb, pork, bacon, and hams, poultry, 

 game, and rabbits, sausages and "offal." It is need- 

 less to say that all imported meat, including frozen, 

 refrigerated, salted, and tinned has been included. The 

 following are the quantities : — 



Net imports 



25,886,471 cwts. 



Home produce 

 24.577.994 cwts. 



Total 

 50,464,465 cwts. 



Thus in round numbers 515 per cent, of the meat 



supply of Great Britain is imported and 485 per cent. 



I home produced, Ireland being considered an importing 



! country. Lard is not included in this list. It is 



given with imitation lard in Group 7, "Other Foods." 



! (4) Fish: (a) Fresh, (b) Cured and Preserved.— The 



j fresh fish included herrings, cod, ling, haddock, 



mackerel, whiting, pollack, salmon, eels and congers, 



turbot, other flat and miscellaneous fish. Oysters and 



shell-fish were omitted. The cured and preserved fish 



included sardines, salmon, other sorts canned, and 



other sorts not canned. After making allowance for 



fish exported, the following are the net supplies : — 



Fre-.h fi>h Cured fi.sh Tot.il 



12,692,530 cwts. ... 591,802 cwts. ... 13,284,332 cwts. 



(5) Dairy Products, etc. — This group includes butter, 

 cheese, milk and cream, condensed milk, eggs, and 

 margarine. The following are the quantities : — 



Home produce 



690,000 cwts. 



573,000 cwts. 



802,439,000 gal.s. 



9, 494,084 gt. hands. 

 88l,ococwfs. 



'loial 

 5,524,722 cwts. 

 2,7fo,459 cwts. 

 802,502,710 gals. 

 1,113,082 cwts. 

 34,103.350 gl hu"ds. 

 1,695,854 cwts. 



There are reasons for believing that the quantity of 

 home-produced cheese given in this list (as taken 

 from the agricultural returns) is considerably below 

 the actual consumption. The returns do not give any 

 estimate of the farm produce consumed by the agri- 

 cultural population. The home supply of eggs is also 

 below the actual, since the returns do not include pro- 

 duce from farms below one acre. It is estimated that 

 one-third of the total eggs are supplied by small 

 poultry-keef>ers. Taking the quantities in the table 

 above, it would appear that the home produce of 

 butter from Great Britain, excluding Ireland, furnishes 

 only 12-5 per cent, of the total supply, that of cheese 

 21 per cent., that of eggs 28 per cent. It is certain, 

 however, *that these two last estimates of home supply 

 are well under the mark, and if the whole in each 

 case were included, it is probable that the home supply 

 of cheese consumed would be 35 per cent, and of eggs 

 42 per cent, of the total. Taking the horne supply, 

 however, even at these last values, it is not consoling 

 that we have to rely so much on imports for what 

 could apparently be produced without difficulty at 

 home, in much larger quantities than at present. 



(6) Fruit: (a) Fresh, (b) Dried and Nuts.— Of fresh 

 fruit the returns give the quantities of apples, pears, 

 oranges, lemons, bananas, plums, cherries, small fruit, 

 other kinds and nuts. The following are the total 

 supplies : — 



Net imports Home pr-^duce Total 



16,810,154 cwts. ... 6,044,250 CWI.S. ... 22,854,404 CWt.«. 



Of this total, apples, oranges, and bananas make up 

 three-fourths, and approximately in equal quantities. 

 Of the home supply, apples make up two-fifths, but 

 this does not include apples used for making cider. 



The list of dried fruits and nuts includes currants, 

 raisins, figs, dates, fruit preserved with sugar, 

 nlmonds, coconuts, Brazil nuts, and walnuts. The total 



NO. 2416, VOL, 96] 



