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were low. Transportation, grading, processing, and packag- 

 ing were kept at a minimum. The problem of storage was 

 reduced by consuming foods in season when possible. 



With industrialization, city industries became specialized. 

 Folks moved off the farms and away from the local commu- 

 nity. The city population began to rise, and the simple meth- 

 ods of distributing food no longer would serve. 



Not only did the city man specialize, but the farmer spe- 

 cialized as well. The New York farmer no longer raises his 

 own pork, as he once did. He buys bacon produced by the 

 hog specialist of Iowa. Potato production has moved into 

 those areas with favored soils and climates. Formerly almost 

 every farmer had a few apple trees. Now most farmers buy 

 apples produced by the commercial growers of the North- 

 west, New York, or the Shenandoah Valley. 



It is expensive and difficult to do all the tasks necessary 

 in order to make frequent deliveries of small quantities of 

 a wide variety of foods to an apartment dweller in a large 

 city. The rising cost of distribution is a measure of service 

 and quality rather than of inefficiency or excessive profits. 



Middleman Matches Production with Consumption 



The middleman performs many tasks. He purchases the 

 raw product from the farmer, assembles, grades, transports, 

 stores, processes, and distributes the final product to the 

 consumer. His livelihood depends upon doing this as cheaply 

 as he can, and competition forces him to take a relatively 

 narrow margin. 



One problem that the middleman has is to provide a stable 

 supply throughout the year of foods that are produced sea- 

 sonally. Some products, like wheat, are produced but once 

 a year, while bread, the finished product, is consumed each 

 day of the year in fairly constant amounts. This calls for a 

 system of local grain elevators, terminal storage facilities, 



