PREFACE 



EVERYONE considers himself an authority on food. The farmer 

 knows about its production, the middleman about its distri- 

 bution, the housewife about its preparation, and everyone 

 about its consumption. The authors have no special preten- 

 sion as authorities other than to equate these widely diver- 

 gent views. 



This book is an effort to present our past experiences with 

 food, to describe what currently appears to be its more im- 

 portant phases, to survey our national policy, and to present 

 the outlook. 



In the early days of the Church a complete code of religious 

 doctrine was handed down to the laymen. There were some 

 unbelievers, who were called to account for their heresy. 

 These unredeemed had a spokesman whose thankless task 

 was to challenge the orthodox doctrine of the day. This 

 spokesman, since he was supposed to represent the powers 

 of evil, acquired the highly descriptive title of "the Devil's 

 Advocate." 



In more modern tunes certain economic doctrines have 

 been handed down by the authorities of the State. Tailor- 

 made plans for agricultural production and food consump- 

 tion, new codes of economic ethics, and the fixing of prices 

 by decrees are a part of the new economic order. Recently, 

 when the food muddle thickened, ration tickets were passed 



