THE NEW FREEDOM-OF FOOD 



BY NORMAN C. McLOUD 



ACO^IPOSITE photograph of the homes of Amei- 

 ica at the present moment would show the national 

 family busy with Food Conservation in its most 

 ])ractical and most profitable form. The work of pro- 

 viding a food supply for winter is under way in every 

 part of the land. The Canner and the Drier have taken 

 a place of new importance in the household. They have 

 become the symbols of the new domestic freedom the 

 .\merican citizen's Declaration of Independence against 

 the high prices and food shortage of winter which must 

 inevitably result from food waste in summer. 



More than three million home gardens are reported 

 by the National Emergency Food Garden Commission. 

 This is triple the number the Commission undertook to 

 inspire through the campaign of education and stimulation 

 conducted throughout the early sjjring in conjunction 

 with the Conservation Department of the .American For- 

 estry Association. If but one million gardens had been 

 planted the Commission 

 would have felt that its 

 work had been well done 

 and its reward complete. 

 With three million and 

 more of these gardens 

 flourishing within the bor- 

 ders of the United State? 

 the Commission feels pro- 

 foundly gratified and at 

 the same time recognizes 

 new responsibility. In dis- 

 charge of this obligation it 

 is devoting ns energies anrl 

 machinery to a campaign of 

 Home Canning and Home 

 Drying. All reports indi- 

 cate that this movement is 

 meeting with the same 

 overwhelming success that 

 attended the campaign for 

 home gardening. 



Food Thrift is the 

 watchword of the under- 

 taking. Through every 

 agency at its command the 

 Commission is urging upon 

 the people of America that 

 the utilization of 100 per 

 cent, of the nation's food 

 supply is the patriotic duty 

 of the individual citizen- 

 ship. As the basis of this 

 gospel of thrift Home Can- 

 ning and Home Drying 



I WILL THIS JAR CAN MASON | 



1 Tj^ROM our constant daily reading we can see 1 



i -*- the thing we're needing is the stuff for fully 



1 feeding folks at home and folks afar. For the 1 



i daily papers tell us facts and figures that compel 1 



1 us to be wide-awake and jealous of the waste we 



1 should debar. Bread and butter, beans and ber- J 



1 ries, kraut and cabbage, cheese and cherries and 1 



i the eggs of Tom and Jerries should be saved "J 



I throughout the land so that ours, the fruitful 1 



i nation, may prevent the quick starvation of the 1 



i balance of creation in the troublous times at J 



1 hand. Though it seems inconsequential each J 



1 small Siice ot bread's essential to keep famine 1 



1 pestilential from ourselves and our Allies; waste g 



1 of food is unpropitious, un-American, pernicious, i 



1 and has consequence as vicious as a swarm of J 



I German spies. All our logic and our reason f 



1 prove it's nothing short of treason if we let the i- 



i growing season find us idly looking on, not con- 1 



1 sidering nor caring for the famine which is star- 1 



i ing in our faces, nor preparing for the days when J 



1 summer's gone. Let us then do what we ought 3 



I to, by devoting all our thought to saving food- j 



i stuffs as we're taught to by the manuals complete J 



i which the National Commission has prepared in 1 



1 large edition for improving the condition of our $ 



1 stock of things to eat. This is something worth | 



1 your trying, for by canning and by drying all the 9 



1 things that you've been buying you'll not merely J 



i feed yourselves, but you'll find, from the begin- f 



1 ning, that you've helped our troops in winning 



1 by the drying and the tinning which have stocked ^j 



1 your pantry shelves. _^ 



THE END OF A CANNER'S DAY 



If you should ask this girl's mother 

 you would probably find that it was 

 the end of a perfect day as well, for 

 sunset found the young lady sur- 

 rounded by the cans which she had 

 filled since morning, without help. 

 Why not take this home and try 

 it on your canner? 



Manuals are being distri- 

 buted by hundreds of 

 thousands. These booklets 

 embody the wisdom and 

 counsel of the foremost re- 

 search workers of tht- 

 United States. Men and 

 women who have devoted 

 years to the improvement 

 of methods for home can 

 ning and drying have con- 

 tributed to their compila- 

 tion. In simple terms anci 

 plain language, devoid of 

 technical complications, the 

 manuals make it possible 

 for everybody to can and 

 dry vegetables and fruits at 

 the lowest possible expense 

 and with the greatest pos- 

 sible measure of .satisfac- 

 tion. 



In addition to these 

 publications the Commis- 

 sion has the co-operation of 

 nearly two thousand news- 

 papers from coast to coast. 

 These papers are publishing 

 daily lessons in canning and 



465 



