WAR AND THE FOOD PROBLEM 



BY NORMAN C. McLOUD 



If the individual members of the American Forestry Association could see the results achieved by the Association's 

 Conservation Department in its efforts to help solve the national food problem they would realize that the work has not 

 been in vain. In affiliation with the National Emergency Food Garden Commission this department has played an im- 

 portant part in the creation and conservation of a vast food supply. Through home gardening, home canning, home 

 drying and home storage America has achieved a wealth of food products for both summer and winter. The growing 

 season of 1917 has produced results hitherto unapproached in the annals of American gardening. In reckoning the 

 worth of this garden crop general opinion accords generous credit to the efforts of the Commission and the Associa- 

 tion's participation therem. The conservation of this yield is now under way, with results as important as those 

 already achieved in the line of production. Every member of the Association is in position to help the cause by 

 doing what he may to stimulate interest in canning, drying and storage for winter uses. Co-operation in this respect 

 will be cordially appreciated by the officers and will constitute a patriotic service. 



1W111 DC coraiauy appreciatea oy tne omcers anu wiu ^;oIl^^l.l^ulc a pairiuiic service. 



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HE more closely one looks at the food situation 

 these days the less certain he becomes as to the 

 real center of interest. National attention is being 

 given so many phases of the question that it is 

 hard to tell which seems most imf)ortant. Food produc- 

 tion, food prices and food conservation are all occupying 

 the center of the stage. The effect is that of a three- 

 ring circus, and in the face of this circumstance the in- 

 dividual citizen has responsibility to all three. That he 

 is fully conscious of this responsibility is shown by the 

 success of the home garden movement, the popular en- 

 thusiasm on the subject of price regulation and the per- 

 sistence with which the people of America are engaged 

 in the home canning, home drying and home storage of 

 vegetables and fruits for winter uses. 



All America has been amazed at the success of the 

 home garden movement. The new planting area created 

 through the efforts of the National Emergency Food 

 Garden Commission and the Conservation Department 

 of the American Forestry Association embraces back 

 yards and vacant land in 

 and around every city, 

 town and village in the 

 United States. With more 

 than three million of these 

 gardens flourishing where 

 none had grown before 

 there has come an addition 

 of three hundred and fifty 

 million dollars in crop 

 value. This tremendous 

 contribution to the re- 

 sources of the nation is of 

 vast importance in its rela- 

 tion to food prices and 

 food conservation. Its ef- 

 fect on prices is immedi- 

 ate. New competition to 

 the extent of three hun- 

 dred and fifty million dol- 



r^'^ 



"-. 



THE OLD B.ACK YARD. 

 A scene which was all too typical before home gardening was stimulated 

 larS has been no mean ^y ''* National Commission. Note the crop carefully and then look at the 



picture of the new back yard on another page. 



factor in the cost of living during the summer of 

 1917. The thoughtful student of economics cannot 

 fail to realize that without this competition the cost 

 of living would have been greatly increased. House- 

 hold expenses have been bad enough as it is. With- 

 out the food gardens they would have been far 

 worse. 



Herein lies the importance of food conservation in 

 its relation to the generous crop of the home gardens of 

 the nation. It is not alone for the growing season that 

 the increased planting area must be made to exert its 

 beneficent influence. Nature's contribution has as much 

 meaning for the winter months as for those of summer. 

 Wise utilization of the heavy crop demands conserva- 

 tion for the future. Conservation for the future de- 

 mands home canning, home drying and home storage. 

 These things must be done on a national scale. This 

 means that they must be done in every household, or, in 

 larger terms, by every community of households working 

 together as a unit. In no other way may America 



reap the full benefit of her 

 heavy home garden crop. 

 In no other way may the 

 individual do such effective 

 work in the regulation of 

 food prices. In no other 

 way may he accomplish 

 such effective food conser- 

 vation. 



In its efforts to bring 

 about the most effectivi- 

 thrift in handling the gar- 

 den crops the National 

 Emergency Food Garden 

 Commission is conducting 

 a nation wide campaign of 

 education. This campaign 

 is fashioned along lines to 

 stimulate canning, drying, 

 storing and other forms of 

 preparing foodstuffs for 

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