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Lend-Lease a Major Cause of Shortage 



Exports of Lend-Lease food, which are known to be large, 

 are named as the cause of the shortage. Officials, who do not 

 wish to antagonize the consumer, have sought to minimize 

 this argument. It has been reported that over the last two 

 years Lend-Lease exports of food "represented only a small 

 percentage of our total food supply." This is an accurate 

 statement, but it does not accurately describe the present or 

 the recent past. Beginning from zero in March 1941, Lend- 

 Lease shipments of food increased rapidly. An average of 

 such a period is not high, but the present rate of shipment 

 is higher than the average. It is the present rates that count. 



Much of the Lend-Lease food exports have been the highly 

 prized nutritious animal foods. Although these foods repre- 

 sented less than half the 1942 tonnage, they represented 

 about 75 per cent of the total dollar value. The nation ex- 

 ported a better diet than it ate. 



There can be little question that Lend-Lease has been 

 an important cause of the shortage. A clue to the govern- 

 ment's intentions regarding future Lend-Lease food exports 

 may be obtained from the statements of Secretary Wickard. 

 It would appear from his statements that Lend-Lease will 

 take from 15 to 20 per cent of our 1943 food production. This 

 would be equivalent to increasing our population by twenty 

 to twenty-five million people. In view of the fact that prior 

 to the outbreak of the war the nation ate more food than 

 it produced, such heavy exports would create a real food 

 problem. 



The fall of Italy will add new demands on our already 

 dwindling larder. Fortunately, the Italians are great con- 

 sumers of wheat in the form of spaghetti. The immediate 

 burden will not be serious unless we attempt to up-grade 

 their standard of living. 



