INCREASING THE FOOD SUPPLY 423 
result in a food shortage. With the growth of cities, more 
food has to be collected and transported for the use of their 
populations, none of whom are engaged in the production of 
food, but all of whom require food. 
Some appreciation of the magnitude of this phase of our 
food problem can be gained by learning from your local 
dealers where the food used for one day in your home was 
grown. Apples and peaches are often so abundant in certain 
parts of New York state that large numbers of bushels are 
never even picked some years because the cpst of labor and 
transportation is greater than the price that can be realized 
for the fruit when it is sent to market. The problem of 
giving all the people in our country enough to eat at reason¬ 
able prices is one of very great importance and one that 
you can well afford to study. 
333. Increasing the Food Supply. — Whenever an in¬ 
creased demand is made upon the total supply of food in a 
nation, as was made upon the United States during the years 
of 1916-1919, attention is directed to two important facts: 
(1) that we are not using all the available foods as is noted 
by a study of food substitutes; and (2) that measures must 
be employed to increase the total production of food. To 
show that biological principles are the foundation for all 
such studies, three examples only will be given. 
1. Fish Production . — The first food chosen to take the 
place of meat is fish because the food value of fish is similar 
to that of meat. “ In America we have hardly begun to 
utilize our fish supply. There are said to be available 
nearly 70 kinds of salt-water fish and more than 30 fresh¬ 
water varieties, yet the average person knows not more than 
a dozen. How many different kinds of fish have you ever 
eaten f It is said that every year the fishermen of the Atlantic 
coast throw away about 10,000,000 pounds of fish that have 
a higher nutritive value than New England's famous cod. 
We are far behind other countries in our use of fish. Against 
