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CHAPTER 2 



THE FOOD SHORTAGE 



LIKE Old Mother Hubbard, Uncle Sam has gone to the cup- 

 board and for the first time in twenty-five years has found 

 it bare. The public reaction was first unconcern, then un- 

 belief, and then alarm. 



The concern is real. The food supply is not like the supply 

 of other critical materials. The supply of planes may be in- 

 creased by building new factories. The supply of soldiers may 

 be increased by the draft. But the production of food is al- 

 ways near its maximum. Increases come largely through high 

 prices and favorable weather, which are beyond the control 

 of the farmer. 



The food situation will be worse before it is better. We 

 have been too optimistic about food production. The years 

 from 1937 to 1942 were all years of bumper crops. We came 

 to accept these good yields as normal, and erroneously 

 planned our food strategy on the assumption of continued 

 high production. Four thousand years ago in Egypt Joseph 

 was more realistic. 



The food situation is critical not only in the matter of 

 supply, but in regard to requirements as well. Despite the 

 fact that for two decades we have been eating more food 

 than we produced, the nation has now embarked upon a pol- 



