February 6, 1946
FOR THE WORLD as a whole, a food crisis has developed which may prove to be the worst in modern times. More people face starvation and even actual death for want of food today than in any war year and perhaps more than in all the war years combined.
The United States and other countries have moved food into war-torn countries in record amounts, but there has been a constantly widening gap between essential minimum needs and available supplies.
Although this country enjoyed a near record production of food and a record crop of wheat, the wheat crops of Europe and North Africa and the rice crops of the far East have proved to be much shorter than anticipated; in fact some areas have experienced the shortest crops in fifty years because of extreme droughts and the disruption of war.
We in this country have been consuming about 3,300 calories per person per day. In contrast, more than 125 million people in Europe will have to subsist on less than 2,000 calories a day; 28 million will get less than 1,500 calories a day and in some parts of Europe, large groups will receive as little as 1,000 calories.
Under these circumstances it is apparent that only through superhuman efforts can mass starvation be prevented. In recognition of this situation Great Britain only yesterday announced cuts in rations of fats and a return to the dark wartime loaf of bread.
I am sure that the American people are in favor of carrying their share of the burden.
Accordingly, I have instructed the appropriate agencies of the Government to put into effect a number of emergency measures designed to help meet critically urgent needs to the greatest possible extent in the shortest possible time. The cooperation of every man, woman and child, the food trades and industries, the transportation industry, and others will be needed to make these measures effective. I know the conscience of the American people will not permit them to withhold or stint their cooperation while their fellow men in other lands suffer and die.
The measures to be taken are as follows: 1. The appropriate agencies of this Government will immediately inaugurate a vigorous campaign to secure the full cooperation of all consumers in conserving food, particularly bread. Additional emphasis will be placed upon the cooperation of bakers and retailers in reducing waste of bread in distribution channels.
2. The use of wheat in the direct production of alcohol and beer will be discontinued; the use of other grains for the production of beverage alcohol will be limited, beginning March 1, to five days' consumption a month; and the use of other grains for the production of beer will be limited to an aggregate quantity equal to that used for this purpose in 1940 which was 30 percent less than the quantity used in 1945. This will save for food about 20 million bushels of grain by June 30, 1946.
3. The wheat flour extraction rate (the quantity of flour produced from each bushel of wheat) will be raised to 80 percent for the duration of the emergency. Also, steps will be taken to limit the distribution of flour to amounts essential for current civilian distribution. This will save about 25 million bushels of wheat during the first half of 1946.
4. The Department of Agriculture will control millers' inventories of wheat and bakers' and distributors' inventories of flour. The inventory controls will be designed to maintain the wheat and flour being held for civilian use at the minimum necessary for distribution purposes.
5. Specific preference will be given to the rail movement of wheat, corn, meat, and other essential foods in order promptly to export maximum quantities to the destinations where most needed.
6. The Department of Agriculture will exercise direct control over exports of wheat and flour to facilitate movement to destinations of greatest need.
7. Necessary steps will be taken to export during this calendar year, 375,000 tons of fats and oils, 1.6 billion pounds of meat, of which one billion pounds is to be made available during the first half of 1946, and to increase the exports of dairy products, particularly cheese and evaporated milk.
8. The War and Navy Departments already have aided materially the movement of Philippine copra (the raw material from which cocoanut oil is produced) by releasing 200 LCM and J boats for the interisland trade in the Philippines. Those Departments and the War Shipping Administration will take immediate steps to make available the additional ships needed for this purpose.
The Secretaries of War and Navy will release for the movement of food to Europe all refrigerated ships not essential to the maintenance of the flow of food to the armed forces.
9. The Department of Agriculture will develop additional ways in which grain now being used in the feeding of livestock and poultry could be conserved for use as human food. These steps may include means to obtain the rapid marketing of heavy hogs, preferably all those over 225 pounds, and of beef cattle with a moderate rather than a high degree of finish; to encourage the culling of poultry flocks; to prevent excessive chick production; and to encourage more economical feeding of dairy cattle. Regulations to limit wheat inventories of feed manufacturers and to restrict the use of wheat in feed will be prepared.
We are requesting the cooperation of retailers and other distributors in informally rationing commodities that will be in scarce supply for the months immediately ahead. Actual reductions in the volume of distribution may be suggested, with the obligations placed on the industry involved to handle distribution equitably. I believe that with the wholehearted cooperation of food manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers the job can be done.
The measures which I have directed will no doubt cause some inconvenience to many of us. Millers and bakers, for example, will have to adapt their operations to produce and to use flour of a higher extraction rate while consumers may not be able to get exactly the kind of bread that many prefer. We will not have as large a selection of meats, cheese, evaporated milk, ice cream, margarine, and salad dressing as we may like. However, these inconveniences will be a small price to pay for saving lives, mitigating suffering in liberated countries, and helping to establish a firmer foundation for peace.
In attempting to alleviate the abroad, this country will adhere to the of giving preference to the liberated and to those who have fought beside us, we shall also do our utmost to prevent starvation among our former enemies.
I am confident that every citizen will operate wholeheartedly in the complete immediate mobilization of this country's tremendous resources to win this world-wide war against mass starvation.
FOR THE WORLD as a whole, a food crisis has developed which may prove to be the worst in modern times. More people face starvation and even actual death for want of food today than in any war year and perhaps more than in all the war years combined.
The United States and other countries have moved food into war-torn countries in record amounts, but there has been a constantly widening gap between essential minimum needs and available supplies.
Although this country enjoyed a near record production of food and a record crop of wheat, the wheat crops of Europe and North Africa and the rice crops of the far East have proved to be much shorter than anticipated; in fact some areas have experienced the shortest crops in fifty years because of extreme droughts and the disruption of war.
We in this country have been consuming about 3,300 calories per person per day. In contrast, more than 125 million people in Europe will have to subsist on less than 2,000 calories a day; 28 million will get less than 1,500 calories a day and in some parts of Europe, large groups will receive as little as 1,000 calories.
Under these circumstances it is apparent that only through superhuman efforts can mass starvation be prevented. In recognition of this situation Great Britain only yesterday announced cuts in rations of fats and a return to the dark wartime loaf of bread.
I am sure that the American people are in favor of carrying their share of the burden.
Accordingly, I have instructed the appropriate agencies of the Government to put into effect a number of emergency measures designed to help meet critically urgent needs to the greatest possible extent in the shortest possible time. The cooperation of every man, woman and child, the food trades and industries, the transportation industry, and others will be needed to make these measures effective. I know the conscience of the American people will not permit them to withhold or stint their cooperation while their fellow men in other lands suffer and die.
The measures to be taken are as follows: 1. The appropriate agencies of this Government will immediately inaugurate a vigorous campaign to secure the full cooperation of all consumers in conserving food, particularly bread. Additional emphasis will be placed upon the cooperation of bakers and retailers in reducing waste of bread in distribution channels.
2. The use of wheat in the direct production of alcohol and beer will be discontinued; the use of other grains for the production of beverage alcohol will be limited, beginning March 1, to five days' consumption a month; and the use of other grains for the production of beer will be limited to an aggregate quantity equal to that used for this purpose in 1940 which was 30 percent less than the quantity used in 1945. This will save for food about 20 million bushels of grain by June 30, 1946.
3. The wheat flour extraction rate (the quantity of flour produced from each bushel of wheat) will be raised to 80 percent for the duration of the emergency. Also, steps will be taken to limit the distribution of flour to amounts essential for current civilian distribution. This will save about 25 million bushels of wheat during the first half of 1946.
4. The Department of Agriculture will control millers' inventories of wheat and bakers' and distributors' inventories of flour. The inventory controls will be designed to maintain the wheat and flour being held for civilian use at the minimum necessary for distribution purposes.
5. Specific preference will be given to the rail movement of wheat, corn, meat, and other essential foods in order promptly to export maximum quantities to the destinations where most needed.
6. The Department of Agriculture will exercise direct control over exports of wheat and flour to facilitate movement to destinations of greatest need.
7. Necessary steps will be taken to export during this calendar year, 375,000 tons of fats and oils, 1.6 billion pounds of meat, of which one billion pounds is to be made available during the first half of 1946, and to increase the exports of dairy products, particularly cheese and evaporated milk.
8. The War and Navy Departments already have aided materially the movement of Philippine copra (the raw material from which cocoanut oil is produced) by releasing 200 LCM and J boats for the interisland trade in the Philippines. Those Departments and the War Shipping Administration will take immediate steps to make available the additional ships needed for this purpose.
The Secretaries of War and Navy will release for the movement of food to Europe all refrigerated ships not essential to the maintenance of the flow of food to the armed forces.
9. The Department of Agriculture will develop additional ways in which grain now being used in the feeding of livestock and poultry could be conserved for use as human food. These steps may include means to obtain the rapid marketing of heavy hogs, preferably all those over 225 pounds, and of beef cattle with a moderate rather than a high degree of finish; to encourage the culling of poultry flocks; to prevent excessive chick production; and to encourage more economical feeding of dairy cattle. Regulations to limit wheat inventories of feed manufacturers and to restrict the use of wheat in feed will be prepared.
We are requesting the cooperation of retailers and other distributors in informally rationing commodities that will be in scarce supply for the months immediately ahead. Actual reductions in the volume of distribution may be suggested, with the obligations placed on the industry involved to handle distribution equitably. I believe that with the wholehearted cooperation of food manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers the job can be done.
The measures which I have directed will no doubt cause some inconvenience to many of us. Millers and bakers, for example, will have to adapt their operations to produce and to use flour of a higher extraction rate while consumers may not be able to get exactly the kind of bread that many prefer. We will not have as large a selection of meats, cheese, evaporated milk, ice cream, margarine, and salad dressing as we may like. However, these inconveniences will be a small price to pay for saving lives, mitigating suffering in liberated countries, and helping to establish a firmer foundation for peace.
In attempting to alleviate the abroad, this country will adhere to the of giving preference to the liberated and to those who have fought beside us, we shall also do our utmost to prevent starvation among our former enemies.
I am confident that every citizen will operate wholeheartedly in the complete immediate mobilization of this country's tremendous resources to win this world-wide war against mass starvation.