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men for the many interested groups. The facts concerning 

 food are confused by priorities, price-fixing, rationing, sup- 

 port prices, rollbacks, subsidies, and innumerable administra- 

 tive compromises a result of political expediency. It is 

 difficult to separate the factual considerations from political 

 expediency. The facts about food are reasonably clear. Po- 

 litical expediency is something which is never the same for 

 one person in two positions, or two persons in one position, 

 and furthermore it is not the same from day to day. There- 

 fore both aspects of the problem have been treated. 



It would take a master mind to array, to interpret, and 

 to place the facts and political expediency in their proper 

 perspective in the great panorama food. By the time the 

 picture was painted it would be out of date. Some parts of 

 the picture never change, while others change so rapidly that 

 it is difficult to see and orient them. The scenes change, the 

 background shifts rapidly, the turnover of participants is 

 large, and the relative importance of the many factors 

 changes. The pictures could not be painted fast enough and 

 no gallery would be large enough to display them. There is 

 only one thing that is certain, and that is change. 



Since most of us are merely amateur cameramen, all we 

 can do is to take a few snapshots here and there. The discus- 

 sions that follow are snapshots of some of the more impor- 

 tant phases of the food problem. Although many phases of 

 this problem are clear as crystal, our knowledge is not ex- 

 pansive enough to take into account all the conflicting factors 

 in the oncoming food problem. 



The following chapters draw on the experience of the past, 

 attempt an analysis of the present, and present a few ap- 

 praisals with the hope of sharpening the focus of the food 

 picture for 125 million people. 



