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in any large degree to the nutrients which the livestock have 

 added ; rather it is due to the fact that in the process of build- 

 ing a nutritious human food, large amounts of less nutritious 

 food have been, in a sense, wasted. The production of crops 

 is a creative process so far as human food is concerned. The 

 production of livestock products from grain is primarily a 

 refining and condensing, not a creative process. 



Generally speaking, poor crops mean famine for man or 

 beast unless sufficient food can be imported from other areas. 

 If a country has large amounts of livestock, it is the animals 

 that would starve unless they were killed before they starved. 

 In a country with little livestock, human starvation follows 

 immediately on the heels of poor crops. 



Europe is a heavily populated area with large numbers of 

 animals. Normally a poor crop in Europe does not mean 

 famine, for imports and livestock serve as shock absorbers. A 

 part of the livestock population is slaughtered and eaten to- 

 gether with the grain the livestock would have eaten. China, 

 however, is a heavily populated area with little livestock. A 

 poor crop in China means starvation for many because there 

 is little livestock and hence little flexibility in the food sup- 

 ply. The problem is also complicated by inadequate trans- 

 portation. 



One might conclude that the problem of famine could 

 easily be met in all countries merely by keeping large num- 

 bers of livestock. It is impossible, however, to maintain a 

 large livestock population in a country with a human popu- 

 lation that is large relative to its crop production. Such a 

 country is always near the borderline of starvation and can- 

 not spare the food required to maintain livestock. Of course, 

 a country with a small area of crops could maintain a large 

 livestock population if it had some other source of income, 

 such as diamond mines, with which to import grain for the 

 livestock. 



