6 MISC. PUBLICATION' 52 4, IX. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



Since 1940 



The United States began to make intensive preparations for de- 

 fense in 1940. On March 11, 1941, the Lend-Lease Act became a 

 law. Under this act millions of pounds of agricultural commodities 

 have been shipped to foreign nations. 



When submarine sinkings began to reduce the number of allied 

 ships, the need for large-scale methods of processing that "would 

 reduce the weight and bulk of foods became urgent. In June 1941 

 a committee on dehydration was appointed in the Bureau of Agri- 

 cultural and Industrial Chemistry to formulate and get under way 

 a research program for the purpose of improving dehydration 

 methods. Other research agencies, including State agricultural ex- 

 periment stations and laboratories in private industries, also began 

 to assemble results of earlier research and to attempt to solve press- 

 ing problems. An active program of research on the commercial 

 dehydration of foods is being carried on by several bureaus of the 

 Agricultural Research Administration and by the agricultural 

 experiment stations. 



In the fall of 1942 the Department of Agriculture conducted two 

 2-week conferences, which were called dehydration training schools. 

 The purpose of these sessions was to assist dehydrators to produce 

 economically the best products possible and to establish a sound tech- 

 nical foundation for a permanent industry. One school was held at 

 the Western Regional Research Laboratory, Albany, Calif., and the 

 other at Rochester, N. Y. More than 250 persons actively engaged 

 in commercial dehydration attended the two meetings. Through 

 lectures, discussions, and demonstrations, the results of research and 

 experience up to date were shared by research workers and the 

 industry. 



The dehydrated vegetables being purchased for the armed forces 

 and lend-lease are mainly potatoes, cabbage, onions, carrots, beets, 

 sweetpotatoes, and turnips, in addition to tomato juice, cranberry 

 sauce, apple sauce, and soup mixtures. Many other vegetables and 

 fruits, including sweet corn, peas, lima beans, string beans, broccoli, 

 spinach and other greens, squash, tomatoes, and berries can be suc- 

 cessfully dehydrated. Some of these may be more important after 

 the war than those being produced in quantity for shipment abroad, 

 since in the United States the root vegetables are usually obtainable in 

 fresh f orm throughout the year. Dried potatoes and onions, however, 

 give promise of becoming popular because they can be prepared more 

 easily than the fresh products. 



What of the Future? 



The post-war future of the food dehydration industry, which under 

 the stimulus of war is expanding so rapidly, depends on the coopera- 

 tion of several groups in the United States. These are (1 ) the farmers, 

 who grow the raw materials; (2) the processors, who, aided by the 

 technical investigators, do the job of dehydrating; and (3) the civilian 

 consumers, who will eventually have an opportunity to buy, cook, and 

 eat the dehydrated foods. 



Farmers, especially those whose lands are near a dehydration plant, 

 can cooperate not only by producing the best products possible, but 

 by growing the types and varieties best suited for dehydration. 



