90 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



spread and most severe famine that has 

 befallen a European nation in modern 

 times. 



Both North and South America have 

 been happily ignorant of extensive fam- 

 ines since the days of Columbus. There 

 is a more or less apocryphal account of a 

 great drought in Mexico in the year 1051, 

 which caused the Toltecs to migrate, and 

 in 1877 a scarcity of rain exposed 200,000 

 people in the northern provinces of Brazil 

 to suffering ; but with these exceptions 

 the pinch of hunger in the Western 

 Hemisphere has been felt from time to 

 time in restricted areas only. 



From this kaleidoscopic picture of suf- 

 fering undergone during some of the 

 most direful periods of world history it 

 is apparent that there is nothing grandi- 

 ose or heroic about death from starva- 

 tion ; neither is there glory to be gained, 

 nor medals of honor or military crosses 

 to be won in the battle for food. The 

 casualties in the struggle are enormous, 

 the compensation nil. Xo monuments 

 are raised to the victims, no pensions pro- 

 vided for decrepit survivors. The suffer- 

 ing of those who succumb is pitiful be- 

 yond description, and the individual's 

 anguish inevitably is intensified by the 

 necessity of witnessing the agony of his 

 loved ones who perish with him. 



America's task 



To allay the pangs of world hunger and 

 to banish famine from the earth is Amer- 

 ica's task and her determination. 



Early last spring, when it became evi- 

 dent that all Europe would be largely de- 

 pendent upon the United States for its 

 food during the coming autumn and win- 

 ter, an appeal was issued to the American 

 people to utilize every available acre of 

 ground in the production of foodstuffs. 

 Farmers were urged to increase the yield 

 of their fields by employing every agency 

 of science and industry ; dwellers in 

 towns and cities were asked to plant vege- 

 tables in their garden plots ; those who 

 had no ground on which to produce food- 

 stuffs were enlisted in the cause when 

 they agreed to limit to their necessity the 

 consumption of food. 



But the object is only half achieved. 



Having grown the foodstuffs, it is im- 

 perative that all practical means be em- 



ployed to gather and preserve the fruits 

 of the soil and of man's labor. These 

 "bumper" crops of vegetables, raised in 

 places which formerly were unproduc- 

 tive, can play no part in feeding stricken 

 Europe unless they supply our own needs, 

 thus releasing non-perishable grains for 

 exportation. 



THE ALLIES' NEEDS AND AMERICANS 

 RESOURCES 



It is estimated that the Entente Allies 

 will require 550,000,000 bushels of wheat 

 from America this year, if the efficiency 

 of their armies on the battle fronts is to 

 remain unimpaired and if the civilian 

 populations of France, England, and 

 Italy are to be maintained in full bodily 

 vigor, in order that they may produce the 

 munitions and supplies essential to the 

 successful prosecution of the war against 

 Germany. 



If the United States should consume 

 its normal amount of grain, the quantity 

 available for export from the 19 17 har- 

 vest would fall short of the requirements 

 abroad by 250,000,000 bushels. But this 

 deficit can be made good, without serious 

 privation to Americans, by the exercise 

 of economy, thrift, and ingenuity — econ- 

 omy, in avoiding all waste ; thrift, in 

 gathering the vegetables which have been 

 produced in such abundance this sum- 

 mer, and ingenuity in preserving, curing, 

 canning, and drying for winter use all the 

 perishable foodstuffs and fruits not re- 

 quired for immediate consumption. 



The goal in this great campaign against 

 waste in America is the safeguarding of 

 all humanity against the suffering and 

 the social and moral degradation which 

 a world-wide famine would entail. 



The American Government is earnestly 

 enlisted in this supreme effort, its food 

 administration bureau having taken over 

 the large problems of price control and 

 regulation of the exportation of food- 

 stuffs ; but the essential, the vital prob- 

 lem of food conservation remains the re- 

 sponsibility of each household. 



Only by the sacrifice which the individ- 

 ual American makes will the welfare of 

 another individual across the Atlantic be 

 assured. Never before in so literal a sense 

 is each man in this country the surety and 

 the keeper of his brother abroad. 



