Bread is the staff of life for all nations. But "bread" does not necessarily mean the wheat loaf. At one time and place it has been barley cake, at another oaten cake, and at another corn pone. Bread has always been whatever cereal happened to be convenient. Even such unbreadlike food as rice is to some races what bread is to us.
Why, then, have we developed our wheat-bread habit? Partly because wheat bread has been easy to get and we have grown to like the taste, but chiefly because wheat flour gives the lightest loaf. To understand why, make a dough with a little white flour and water and then gently knead it in cold water. The consistency changes, the starch is washed out and a rubbery, sticky ball is left—thegluten, which is the protein of the wheat. It is this gluten in the flour that stretches when bread rises and then stiffens when it is baked, making a light, porous loaf. Wheat is the only one of the cereals that has much gluten; rye has a little and the others practically none.
Gluten seems to be essential to the making of a light, yeast-raised loaf. Products raised with baking-powder, for which our standard of lightness is different—"quick breads" like biscuits and muffins and cakes—do not require the gluten and can easily be made from substitute cereals. But for our ordinary loaf of bread, at least some wheat seems to be almost essential, though with skill in the making, rye can be made to serve in its place. Patriotic bakers and housewives all over the countryhave been trying to produce a wheatless loaf which is light, palatable, and sufficiently durable to stand transportation. The durability is a very important consideration; crumbly corn bread cannot be distributed by bakers nor served to armies. Corn bread and the other quick breads are chiefly home-made products.
Our present problem, therefore, is to make the most effective possible use of our wheat gluten, to make it go as far as possible in our breads. Both bakers and private individuals have their share in solving the problem.
The bakers have co-operated loyally. Probably no other food industry has been more vitally affected by the war.All bakers using three or more barrels of flour a month have been licensed and so are under the control of the Food Administration.This means practically all the commercial bakers of the country, and many hotels, clubs, and institutions. About two-fifths of the bread in the United States is made in bakeries and three-fifths in the home. The bakeries have used 35,000,000 barrels of flour each year, so the importance of this field for conservation is plain.
The amount of wheat flour they are now permitted to have has been reduced: at present 80 per cent of their last year's quantity, or, if they are pastry and cracker bakers, 70 per cent. They must make no bread wholly of wheat flour. Some substitute must be mixed with the wheat. When the regulation went into effect in February, 1918, 20 per cent was required and later, 25 per cent. In pies and cakes there must be at least one-third substitute. The amounts of sugar and fat used are limited.Even the sizes of the loaves are fixed, so that the extravagance of making and handling all sorts of fancy shapes and sizes may be avoided. Bread must not be sold to the retailer at unreasonable prices.
Victory bread is bread made in accordance with these regulations. The name "Victory" was chosen as representing the idea underlying the conservation of wheat. The name is really a present to the Food Administration, having been used by two large firms who gave up all rights to their trade-mark.
Hotels and restaurants are required to make or serve bread containing at least as much of the wheat substitutes as Victory bread. They may not serve more than two ounces of bread and other wheat products to a guest at a meal. Many of them have recently promised to use no wheat at all till the next harvest. That means, of course, that only through intelligent effort can they serve yeast bread.
Until the wheat-supply increases and the Food Administration lessens restrictions, use no wheat at all if you can possibly do without.Remember that you can make delicious muffins and other quick breads from the substitute flours. And you need no bread at all at some meals. An extra potato or a serving of rice can be eaten instead of the usual two slices of bread and the body will be supplied with the same amount of energy. Do not be the slave of old food habits.When all Europe is eating to keep alive, fastidiousness and food "notions" must play no part in the dietary.
Some people find it is almost impossible to do without the baker's loaf. Hundreds in crowded city quarters have no facilitiesof their own for baking. Women doing their share in factories and workshops cannot get up earlier to make corn bread for breakfast. Victory bread must be saved for them. For households which must use wheat, the Food Administration has fixed a voluntary ration of 1½ pounds of wheat per week for each person. This includes wheat in the form of bread, pastry, macaroni, crackers, noodles, and breakfast foods.
All who can should do more than their share—they must do their utmost to make up for those whose circumstances prevent them from doing it.The interests and desires of each of us in this war can be translated into service in no more effective way than by conforming our food habits to the needs of the hour.
All the Allied countries have been stretching their meagre wheat-supply to the limit and are enforcing the most stringent regulations.
The flour is required to be of high extraction—ordinarily from 81 per cent to 90 per cent, decidedly higher than our 74 per cent. Even with this coarse, gray flour a large percentage of substitute must be mixed, usually 25 per cent. In England there are local regulations on the use of mashed potato in bread. Their bread must be twelve hours old before it is sold, so that people will not be tempted to eat too much. The result is seldom palatable. In France no flour at all may be used to make the delectable pastries and cakes which have long been the delight of the French people and their guests. In Italy, macaroni, which in many regions is as much the "staff of life" as bread, must contain 43 per cent substitute, and in some places may not be manufactured at all.
Both England and France have subsidized bread; the Government has set a price below cost and itself makes up the difference to the baker. England has appropriated $200,000,000 for the purpose.
Bread rations are in force in both France and Italy. France has recently put her whole people on a rigorous ration which limits them to two-thirds of the amount of bread that they have been accustomed to. Remember that bread is a far more important part of the French diet than of ours. Even children under three have bread cards allowing them 3½ ounces a day. Rations are not a guarantee that the amount mentioned will be forthcoming; they only permit one to have it if it can be obtained. One interesting result of the stringency, according to an American officer writing from Paris, is that guests even at formal dinners, may be asked to bring their own bread, finding this postscript on their invitations: "Apportez un peu de pain si vous le voulez."1In Italy the very limited bread rations are fixed locally.
England has compulsory rations for meat and butter or margarine and sugar, but not for bread. Her bread system is voluntary like ours, but much more detailed. The voluntary ration allows one-half pound of bread a day for sedentary and unoccupied women and larger allowances up to a little over a pound for men doing heavy labor. Waste of any kind is very heavily punished—one woman was fined $500 for throwing away stale bread.
"Why not send corn abroad?" One hears the question over and over again. The answers are many. In the first place, wearesending corn over—our exports of corn during March, 1918, increased 180 per cent and of corn meal 383 per cent over thepre-war average. This they are using as we are using it in our Victory bread. But they must have enough wheat to make a durable loaf of bread at the bakeshops, where for generations all the baking has been done. The French housewife has no facilities for bread-making and the French woman does not know how and has not the time to learn. She is doing a man's work and her own woman's labor besides, and the extra unaccustomed labor of bread-making cannot be added to her burdens.
Some people, disturbed either selfishly or patriotically by the failure of a neighbor to conserve wheat, have asked why the Food Administration trusts to voluntary methods, why it does not ration the country.
Rationing may come yet, but any such system bristles with difficulties. The cost to the Government has been variously estimated all the way from $10,000,000 to $45,000,000 a year. Fifty per cent of the population could not be restrained in their consumption by rationing, for they are either producers or live in intimate contact with the producer. A wheat ration which would be fair for the North might actually increase the consumption in the South. Finally, the burden of a bread card would fall largely not on the well-to-do, who eat less wheat already and can easily cut down further, but on those with little to spend, who might have to change their whole food habits.
The success that is meeting our method of voluntary reduction of consumption "will be one of the remembered glories of the American people in this titanic struggle."
Meat shortage is not a war problem only. We had begun to talk of it long before the war, and we shall find it with us after peace is declared. Great production of beef can take place only in sparse settlements. As the tide of increasing population flows over a country, the great cattle-ranges are crowded out, giving place to cultivated fields. More people means less room for cattle—a relative or even absolute decrease in the herds.
In spite of their crowded territory, the majority of European countries have raised most of their meat themselves, though usually they have had to import fodder to keep up their herds. They have been less dependent on import for meat than for wheat. Great Britain is the only country which has imported much meat—almost one-half her supply. Her imports, and to a lesser extent those of other European countries, have come chiefly from Denmark and Russia in Europe, and from six countries outside—the United States, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia, and New Zealand.
Imports of both animals and fodder are interrupted. With meat as with wheat, the great shortage is due to lack of ships.Australia and New Zealand, and to a lesser extent South America, are cut off. Fodder such as cottonseed press-cake cannot be shipped in large amounts as it takes three times as much shipping to transport feed as it does the meat made by the animals from it. Denmark's supply of animals to Great Britain has practically stopped, because of her own shortage, and because much of what she has goes to Germany.
The European herds have been cut down. Every one of the warring countries has fewer meat animals now than before the war. There were roughly 100,000,000 animals less in Europe at the end of 1917 than in 1914. Many of those left are in very poor condition, so that the shortage is even more serious than is indicated by the falling off in numbers.
Belgium, Serbia, and Roumania are in the worst condition. Practically all the animals in those countries have been killed or confiscated by the invading German and Austrian armies. This is one cause of their terrible famine conditions.
The United Kingdom, France, and Italy have also lost seriously. France is the greatest loser of the three, with more than one-fifth of her herds gone. The enemy has driven off large numbers of her cattle. She, like the others, is in difficulty not only for meat, but for milk. Her situation is complicated by the fact that she has no great cold-storage plants like ours, and so must get meat-supplies at frequent intervals.
Before the war Germany was much better prepared than the Allies in that she had many more animals in proportion to her population than they. But she was more dependent upon imports of feed, and as her commerce has been cut off, she has had to kill her animals faster. Counting up all her animals in terms of cattle according to the amount of meat they would yield, shows a loss of over one-third. For Austria, there are noavailable figures, but her decrease has probably been larger than Germany's.
Meat shortage is not a problem by itself, but is closely connected with the shortage of available grain. When cereals are short, they must be fed to human beings rather than to animals. Feeding grain to animals and then eating the animals is not nearly so economical as eating grain directly. For example, when grain is fed to a cow, only 3½ per cent of the energy of the grain is turned into meat or fat, and 96 per cent is burned up by the cow in its own daily living. When a man eats the grain directly, he uses at least 85 per cent of its energy. Thus 81½ per cent more of the grain is actually used for human food. So Europe to-day has to sacrifice her herds, and uses grain for bread instead of turning it into meat.
Alongside this shortage has come an increased demand for meat for the great armies. The soldier's ration always contains more meat than is eaten by the civilian population.
The shortage has compelled vigorous control of consumption in order to make the distribution as nearly fair as possible. Compulsory meat rations are enforced in all the warring countries. They vary, of course, from time to time as the amount of available meat changes, but the following statements give a picture of how limited the allowances are in periods of shortage.
England did not suffer for lack of meat at the outset of the war. Her voluntary ration (November, 1917) was generous, 2 pounds per week. In the beginning of 1918 the supply was very low, and by the end of February London was put on meat rations, and in April the rest of the country. The rationingsystem has made distribution easier and more fair and greatly lessened the distressing "queues" of people waiting before butchers' shops for their allowance. The regulations allow each person 4 coupons a week. Children under 10 are on half-rations. At first, 3 of these coupons could buy 5 pence' worth of beef, pork, or mutton, and one had to be used for a limited amount of bacon, ham, poultry, or game. The total amounted to about 1¼ pounds of meat a week.
Because of the increased amount of bacon and ham which the United States was able to send in the late spring, heavy workers were permitted in May 2 extra coupons, for which they might buy a pound of bacon. Boys between 13 and 18 years were allowed 1 extra coupon for bacon, poultry, or game. But at the same time only 2 instead of 3 coupons were to be used for fresh meat, so as to cut down further the slaughtering of cattle. Heavy fines are imposed for wasting food or profiteering.
In the restaurants the meat portions are about a fifth of the size of those served in an American hotel. An American staying in London said recently that he could eat two meals in succession in a London restaurant, and leave the table still minus that self-satisfied feeling that a meal in America gives.
At first France used meatless days instead of rations, and in the spring of 1918 went back to meatless days. High prices also keep down consumption. In July, 1917, there were 2 meatless days, and cattle could not be slaughtered on the 2 preceding days. Though this order was abolished in October, 1917, meat had gone up so high in price that consumption went away down. The Paris letter of the LondonDaily NewsandLeaderon February 28, 1918, says that rump steak was selling for 4 shillings 2 pence—$1 per pound. Since May 15, 3 days a week must be meatless—Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Onthese days all butchers' shops are closed. Horse meat may be sold, but no poultry or game. Fish is scarce and very expensive.
Italy has meatless days, formerly 2, and since May, 1918, 3. The ration and the number of cattle to be slaughtered are decided locally and strictly regulated.
The Central Powers probably have the lowest meat ration. The quantities allowed vary in different parts of the country, but the average in Germany has been about 9 ounces a week per person. It was reported that this was reduced to 6 ounces in the middle of May—barely two small servings each week.
As with wheat, meat for Europe must come chiefly from the United States and Canada, since ships are few and the Atlantic the shortest route. The extra demand upon us is to offset the loss from inaccessible markets and the depleted herds in Europe. The United States is now exporting far larger quantities than it has ever exported before. In March, 1918, we sent over 87,000,000 pounds of beef. Ordinarily we export between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 pounds a month. Of pork we sent 308,000,000 pounds—six times more than usual. It is roughly estimated that it is necessary to send 75,000,000 pounds of meat and meat products of all kinds abroad weekly to the Allies and our army.
To buy and sell this huge and unusual quantity of meat, a careful organization has been necessary. At first the Allied nations bought meat in this country as best they could in competition with the domestic market and each other, often feverishly to meet emergencies.Last December a commission was formed to buy for all the Allies.The prices to be paid are settled by experts, after careful study, so that packers, storage warehouses,and producers shall all have adequate, but not excessive return for their labor. The buying is planned ahead so that we can ship at times when we have plenty.
The meat which we are shipping now is coming in part from an increased slaughter of cattle and hogs, a condition which may have serious consequences in reducing our reserve. The need for conservation is constant, though at times the situation becomes easier in one kind of meat or another. In the summer of 1917 we were short on hogs. In the spring of 1918, thanks to the "keep-a-pig" movement and vigorous conservation, as well as high prices, we temporarily had hogs in plenty. Beef is short for the summer season. Policies must change frequently with fluctuating supplies and varying demands from Europe. However, the export demand for our forces and the Allies is limited only by shipping capacity, and it may be that we shall have a still larger demand at the war's end which will tax any reserve which we can possibly accumulate.
Meat does not play nearly so important a part in the world's dietary as we are accustomed to think. There is no comparison, in the quantity consumed, between meat and bread, or even meat and sugar or potatoes. Half of the people of the earth eat little or none of it. Only in two kinds of communities is meat used largely—new and thinly populated countries with much grazing-land, or wealthy industrial countries.
Australia and New Zealand are of the first type, consuming more meat per person than any other country in the world—5 pounds a week in Australia and 4 pounds in New Zealand. The United States, parts of which may be considered in bothclasses, eats about 3¼ pounds per person weekly. This is much less than some years ago, when there was more grazing-land.
Great Britain, because it could afford to import it, used about 2¼ pounds a week before the war. Germany's consumption was slightly lower. France, Denmark, Switzerland, with fewer animals or less wealth, are small meat-eaters, the average amount being about 1½ pounds a week—about half as much as our consumption.
Meat is eaten partly because of its pleasant flavor and partly because it is a source of protein which is necessary to build or renew the various parts of the body. Every cell in the body contains it and needs a steady supply.
Meat is a valuable protein food, but so are plenty of others—fish, cheese, eggs, milk, dried beans, dried peas, nuts, cereals. Cottage-cheese is the most nearly pure protein of anything that we eat. We can get protein just as satisfactorily from cheese and the other animal protein foods as from meat, and almost as satisfactorily from the vegetable protein foods.The old idea that meat is especially "strengthening" has no foundation.Neither is one kind of meat less thoroughly digested than another.
There is little danger in this country that our diet will fall too low in protein. Many of us eat considerably more than we need. Even those who must spend a dangerously limited amount on their diet, are not apt to be low in protein, for they often err on the side of spending an unwise proportion of their money on meat. Most scientists now consider three ounces of carefully chosen protein per day a safe allowance for an average man. An average woman needs less.
It is not at all difficult for an interested person to count up roughly whether he is eating more or less than this quantity. A small serving of lean meat or fish, about two inches square and three-quarters of an inch thick, contains about one-half ounce of protein. Two eggs, a pint of milk, a quarter of a cup of cottage-cheese, an inch-and-a-quarter cube of American cheese, each have about this same amount. So does a cup and a half of baked beans or two and a half cups of cooked cereal or six half-inch slices of bread (3 x 3½ inches). A person eating six of these portions daily will of course have his three ounces of protein. A man moderate in his eating and patriotic in his saving of meat will probably find his consumption not far from this quantity.
Fish. The possible supply of fish is practically unlimited, and much of it is little appreciated by us. We eat on the average only 18 pounds apiece per year, though our meat consumption is 170 pounds. The British and Canadians use much more fish than we do—56 and 29 pounds respectively. The United States Bureau of Fisheries and many State colleges are constantly introducing new varieties, from shark down. We should learn to value the many kinds which are available, fresh, dried, and canned, not merely the few we happen to be used to.
Eggsform a very valuable food not only for protein, but for mineral salts and vitamines as well. It is unfortunate that the price is often high, but it should be realized that expenditure for eggs makes expenditure for meat unnecessary.
Poultryis not now listed as a meat substitute by the Food Administration because the supply has become very limited.
Cheeseis one of the best substitutes for meat. It representsmost of the food value of a much greater bulk of milk, and its protein, fat, and mineral salts make it an important food. We in America are very slow to appreciate it. We are apt to use it in small quantity for its flavor rather than as a real food. We could well eat more of it, to the advantage both of the palatability and nutritive quality of our diet.
Milk, one of the most easily digested and simplest sources of protein in our diet and the most valuable of our foods, is discussed in Chapter VII.
Nutsare usually thought of as a luxury, but the amount of protein and fat they contain makes them really an important food. Peanuts are usually classed with the nuts and are considered the most valuable nut-crop of the United States. They are growing so fast in importance that the acreage was increased 60 per cent in 1917. They are used for oil and for fodder as well as for human food. Peanut-butter or a bag of peanuts is a good investment, but it should be counted as part of the necessary food, not eaten as an extra. The occasional indigestion following injudicious eating of cheese and nuts is probably often due to forgetting that they are very substantial foods and eating them at the end of an already sufficient meal.
Peas and Beansare taken up with the other vegetables in Chapter VIII.
Why do not the Allies use these substitutes? Mainly because they haven't them. Dairy products are as scarce as meat. All the fish and beans and peas that they can get are being used. But it is not enough.Their small meat ration must be maintained, and their armies as well as ours must have meat. Keep it going over!
To a person who has been in Europe since the war began the question of the importance of fats is no longer debatable. Having practically gone without them, he knows they are important. In Germany it is the lack of fat that is the cause, perhaps, of the most discomfort and makes the German most dissatisfied with his rations. Even when the diet was sufficient, it was not satisfactory if low in fat.
This dependence on fat in the diet is due to several reasons, both physiological and psychological. Some people, the Japanese for example, habitually eat but little. But it is the habit of both Europeans and Americans to use considerable fat both on the table and in cooking. The taste of food is not so pleasing without it. Their recipes almost all use fat in one form or another, so that when little or none is available, a change must be made in most of the methods of cooking. Practically all food must be boiled, and is lacking in the flavor and texture to which we are accustomed. The food, no matter how nutritious it may be, will not taste good.
Fats are very concentrated food, a fact which gives them added value in war-time, making them the most economical food to ship.A pound of any fat gives 2¼ times as much energy as a pound of sugar—the reason for the slogan "Fats Are Fuel forFighters." Soldiers engaged in the most strenuous physical activities need fuel for all the energy they expend. Bacon, butter, all the forms of fat give them the most energy in the smallest weight of food.
Fats stave off the feeling of hunger longer than other foods because they pass more slowly from the stomach and delay the passage of foods eaten with them. A slice of bread and butter will "satisfy" one for a much longer time than a slice of bread and jelly, even though there is enough jelly to give exactly the same amount of fuel. In the countries in which there is a fat shortage, the appetite does not stay satisfied during the usual period between meals, even when the previous meal contained the customary amount of calories. The feeling of hunger is sometimes almost constant.
Certain fats are valuable for an entirely different reason. Milk fat, either in the milk or as butter, beef fat which is a constituent of oleomargarine, the fat in the yolk of egg, all contain one of the vitamines needed by children in order to grow properly, and by grown people to keep in good health. Lard and the vegetable fats and oils, like nut or vegetable margarine and cottonseed-oil, do not contain this substance, but if there is sufficient milk in the diet, there will be plenty of this "fat-soluble vitamine." In all other respects the fats are alike from a nutritional standpoint. One fat can replace another without harm.
Until the war came there was little need of knowing or bothering as to what kind of fats we ate, or of concerning ourselves with the fact that many more varieties were available than most of us used. Now it does make a decided difference.Our armies and those of the Allies need fat, a great deal of it, and we must ship them the kind most suited to their purposes. We can use what the Allies and the Army do not need.
There is a shortage of the animal fats, lard, butter, and oleomargarine for the same reasons, of course, that cause the meat shortage. England, particularly recently, has had very little, less even than the French and Italians, who are not accustomed to using much.
England was the largest butter importer in the world, getting her supply mostly from northwestern Europe, Denmark, Russia, Sweden, and Holland. Russia can no longer supply her. Neither can the neutrals, who have been supplying Germany under pressure; they need Germany's coal. Although the United States has increased her butter exports to the United Kingdom, if our entire exports went to them, it would supply only 6 per cent of the amount needed.
To help the situation, England has greatly increased her manufacture of oleomargarine. Oleo oil and vegetable oils are being imported in large quantities and now England uses twice as much margarine as butter. But even with the margarine to help out, there is but little to go around. The weekly ration of butter and margarine is one-fourth of a pound per person, and at times even that amount has not been available. In April an American newspaper man in London reported that he had forgotten what butter tasted like. It could only be obtained on the farms, and even those who made it were strictly limited in the amount that they could keep themselves. Not even margarine could be served at luncheon or dinner. There were long queues in front of the shops before the distribution was better systematized. At present the total amount of fat in the diet is increased somewhat by the allowance of bacon and ham.
In Germany the fat shortage, has been so severe that, combined with the bread shortage, it has been the greatest cause of food riots. Before the war the Germans imported about half their supply, most of which is now cut off. Of course, the vegetable oils from the United States and the tropics are not available. The neutrals have had to lessen their exports because of their own shortage, and the embargo which the United States laid on its exports of fats to neutrals. Germany's inability to feed her animals has greatly curtailed her supply of animal fats.
As a result the rations have been decreasing steadily in spite of every effort. Bones are collected and the fat extracted. Seeds, such as those of the sunflower, and the kernels of fruit have the oil pressed from them. During 1915-16 the rations varied from 3¼ ounces to 10 ounces of table fat a week. By December, 1917, it had been decreased, so that the average total fat ration was a little under 3 ounces a week, some communities receiving a little more, and others none at all. The local newspapers give interesting side-lights showing the results of this shortage. An owner of a boot-shop was prosecuted by the police for having 70 pairs of good shoes which he would sell only in exchange for butter or bacon. (Brunswick Volksfreund, January 16, 1918.)
The United States has great resources of vegetable oils, cottonseed, peanut, corn, and olive oil. It is this apparent plenty that makes it so difficult for many to visualize the shortage abroad. We are shipping about one-third of the lard which we produce, and large quantities of oleo oil for oleomargarine. Although the exports of butter in 1917 have almost been doubled since thepreceding fiscal year, it is relatively unimportant, representing only about 1 per cent of the production. We are shipping cottonseed oil also, but this requires tank-steamers, which are scarce. In general, as the oils are much more difficult to handle and impossible for the armies to use, we must ship the solid animal fats.
The Individual's Part in Fat Conservation. Although at present there is butter and lard on the market, the need for conserving it is important, just as in the case of meat.Waste of any kind should be abhorrent to all of us at this time.There probably has been a greater waste of fat than of any other commodity, but it is encouraging to note that this waste has been decreased by conservation. The amount of fat in city garbage has gone down all over the country. In Columbus, Ohio, the fat in the garbage was almost 50 per cent less in 1917 than in 1916. In fourteen large cities with a total population of over 5,000,000 nearly 40 per cent less fat was recovered in March, 1918, than in March, 1917.
Not only can fat be saved by carefully avoiding every bit of waste, but less can actually be used.Fry food less, and bake, broil, or boil them more. Use vegetable oils.In a long view of the food situation, it is the animal fats that cause gravest concern, because of the years necessary to build up a herd.We must send as much fat abroad as possible, and create reserves for periods of shortage with a minimum depletion of our herds.
Of all the foods which it is necessary to conserve, sugar is the easiest to do without.If the war and what it means has become part of a person's consciousness, he wishes only the bare essentials. Sugar is a luxury of former times which has become a commonplace to-day. The average use in the United States was 83 pounds per person last year—1-2/3 pounds a week—less than one hundred years ago the yearly consumption was 9 pounds. Sugar was a rare luxury. It will do no harm to regard it so again.
Sugar is scarce for two reasons—much less beet-sugar is actually being grown, and some of the cane-sugar is too far away to be available. The sugar-beet, grown in temperate climates, and the sugar-cane, native in tropical and semitropical regions, are the only two sources of sugar large enough to be of more than local importance.
Before the war, 93 per cent of the entire world crop of beet-sugar was grown in Europe. The industry was started by Napoleon in the early nineteenth century when he was at war with most of Europe, and France was shut off from her supply of cane-sugar from the West Indies. The industry spread over the great plain of Central Europe, from the north of France over Belgium, Germany, Austria-Hungary to Central Russia. In 1914 all of these countries were producing enough sugar for their own needs. England produced none at all, but the continent, especially Germany and Austria, supplied her with about 54 per cent of what she needed.
MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF EUROPEAN BEET SUGAR FACTORIES—ALSO BATTLE LINES AT CLOSE OF 1916ESTIMATED THAT ONE-THIRD OF WORLD'S PROOUCTION BEFORE THE WAR WAS PRODUCED WITHIN BATTLE LINESMAP SHOWING LOCATION OF EUROPEAN BEET SUGAR FACTORIES
The beet-sugar industry in the United States started in 1863 and has grown rapidly since 1897. In 1917 it supplied 22 per cent of the consumption.
Sugar-cane is grown in tropical and semitropical countries all over the globe. Cuba leads in the amount produced, and consumes only a small fraction of her production herself. Java, too, is a large exporter. India raises millions of tons but has to import some to fill all her needs. In the United States, Louisiana, Texas, and some parts of Florida produce about 6 per cent of what we use, but our dependencies, Porto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines all export to us, and together with Cuba, make up the deficiency.
The war has changed entirely the peace-time distribution. The map shows what the battle-lines have done to the beetfields of Europe. Belgium and the northern part of France, in which practically all the beets were grown, are in German hands. In 1914 the battle-line eliminated 203 of the 213 French sugar-factories. In 1916-17 the falling back of the Germans had returned 65 factories to the French, but now again some of these have fallen into the enemy's hands. The French crop in 1915-16 was only one-fifth of the crop before the war and the following year it was only a fourth. Italy's crop was 25 per cent less in 1916-17 than before the war and the estimated yield for this year is 50 per cent less. England, of course, can no longer get sugar from the continent.
So the allied world must import cane-sugar or have almost no sugar at all. The cane-sugar supply is largely dependent on shipping. Ships cannot be spared to go to the East. Thereforethe sugar of Cuba and the rest of the West Indies, our main source of supply, must be shared with the Allies. It is to the credit of all involved that every effort is being made to see that the division is a fair one. A commission representing the Allies, the United States, and Cuba apportioned the 1917-18 Cuban crop and fixed its price. Competitive bidding by the many purchasers, with the danger of forcing up the price of the limited supply, was in this way prevented.
The rations of Europe are the most convincing evidence of the extent of the sugar shortage. In England ½ pound a week is allowed for each person, half the average amount used in their households before the war. France had sugar cards long before she had any other ration. Seven ounces a week were allowed, and later in the year only one-quarter of a pound. Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1918 had an average household ration of 6 ounces a week.
The United States in accordance with its usual method is asking the individual for voluntary conservation of sugar. Each household is asked to observe a voluntary weekly ration of not more than three-quarters of a pound per person. Extra amounts of sugar for home canning may be secured by making a certified declaration to the dealer that it is to be used only for canning and preserving.
Food manufacturers using sugar are dealt with more strictly than private individuals. Every business using sugar may purchase it only on certificates obtained from the Federal Food Administrators. At present manufacturers of essential products such as canned vegetables and fruits may get the amount neededto fill their necessary requirements. Manufacturers of less essential products get a percentage of what they used before—at present soft-drink and candy manufacturers get 50 per cent and ice-cream makers 75 per cent.
The decreased use of sugar has resulted in the release of the ships which had been used to bring Cuban sugar to this country—50,000 tons freed to carry men and munitions and food to the Western front in the spring of 1918.
The United States is much more fortunate than Europe in having sweets other than sugar at its disposal. As our corn-crop is immense, the supply of corn-syrup is limited only by the ability of the manufacturers to turn it out. It is a wholesome, palatable syrup and can often take the place of sugar both in cooking and on the table. Although it is not as sweet as ordinary sugar, it serves the body for fuel in the same way. We have cane-syrup, and also molasses and refiner's syrup, by-products of sugar-making, and in some parts of the country, local products such as honey, maple sugar and syrup, and sorghum syrup. Sweet fruits, both fresh and dried, contain considerable amounts of sugar, some of the dried fruits being over two-thirds sugar, and when added to cereals, for example, take the place of part or all of the sugar.
In spite of the short supply, the Food Administration has kept down the price of sugar by an agreement with the sugar-refineries that the wholesale price must not be more than the cost of theraw sugar plus a fixed amount to cover costs of refining. Even during December, 1917, when there was a severe shortage in the East, the price remained stable. Refiners say that without regulation by the Food Administration the price would have gone to 25 cents a pound or higher.
At times the Food Administration has had to use compulsion to keep the price level and has not hesitated to do so where necessary. Licenses have been withdrawn for failure to comply with regulations, and businesses closed for longer or shorter times. One dealer who was charging 14 cents a pound for sugar had his store closed for 2 weeks; another paid $200 to the Red Cross for overcharging; another, for selling sugar and flour without regard to regulations, was closed indefinitely.
Use fewer sweets of any kind and use sugar substitutes.Sugar does serve a desirable purpose in making certain of our foods more palatable, but the quantity necessary for this is small, and for much of it other sweets can be used instead. The household consumption uses by far the largest percentage of the sugar-supply. Its economical use also helps to provide a reserve for preserving surplus fruits.Such "extras" as candy and cakes can be entirely dispensed with.
Of course, sugar is a food, as it is burned in the body for fuel. But there are two good physiological reasons for avoiding excessive amounts. If we eat a large quantity in candy after already sufficient meals, we are overeating and may suffer from digestive disturbances in consequence. Eating sweets instead of other food is also bad and a cause of undernourishment. Sugar is pure carbohydrate, and although we may eat enough tosatisfy the feeling of hunger the body will lack minerals, protein, and other substances absolutely necessary for its well-being. The person may feel satisfied, but he will be undernourished nevertheless.
The conservation of sugar will not only permit a fair distribution to our associates in the war, but insure a sufficient amount for our own men. It is especially valuable for them because it burns so rapidly in the body that it gives energy more quickly than other foods.