percent. Territorial needs and requirements for special purposes add 
up to 2 percent. 
By taking a number of direct actions, we can make this basket 
larger and make it go further. The most important method of accom¬ 
plishing this increase is by preventing waste. 
HOW MUCH FOOD DO WE WASTE? 
Garbage analysis studies in 247 cities reveal an average of 300 
pounds of waste food per person a year, or more than three-fourths of 
a pound for each individual every day. Of this food, 225 pounds 
were edible. This includes wastage from wholesalers, retailers, 
restaurants, and homes. 
Raymond Pearl, statistician and geneticist, estimated a food 
wastage in the home of 5 percent of protein, 25 percent of fat, and 20 
percent of carbohydrates—or an over-all waste of 19 percent of the 
calories. 
WHERE FOOD WASTE OCCURS 
Food is wasted at every stage of distribution and use—-on the farm, 
in transit, in storage, in the processing plant, at wholesale markets 
and establishments, in retail stores, in public eating places, and in the 
home. This squandering of our food adds up to about a fourth of all 
that we produce. Some waste is unavoidable, but much can be pre¬ 
vented by conservation measures. 
Waste on the Farm 
Waste on the farm is incalculable. It takes place from planting to 
harvest. It includes damage done by insects and by rodents. Com¬ 
mon plant diseases each year deprive us of several hundred 
million bushels of grain and other products. Additional quantities 
are lost when crops remain unharvested because of local labor shortage, 
transportation difficulties, limited facilities for processing, or because 
unpredictable weather causes market gluts of seasonal foods. Rough 
digging and picking, careless preparation for market, and inadequate 
refrigeration and storage add to the losses. 
There is no general cure-all for waste of food on the farm because 
here, as elsewhere, some losses result from circumstances occasioned 
by the war—but all efforts to assure that the crop is harvested down 
to the last bit will help. Voluntary workers and community coopera¬ 
tion where labor shortage exists can save much food. And every 
effort should be made to see that food which is edible by human 
beings is channeled to them rather than to livestock. 
Waste in Transit 
Waste takes place when farm and food products are transported to 
market. Some of it results from inadequate facilities due to the war 
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