No longer need we have pellagra. As goal number two we can reduce those diseases such as tuberculosis toward which insufficient food predisposes. To speed this task we must shift our agriculture more and more toward producing those foods which are rich in vitamins, minerals, and the right kind of proteins. We are using the cow, the hen, and the pig to extract from our huge supplies of corn stored in the ever-normal granary the Vitamin B, the Vitamin A, the good minerals, and the proteins which will furnish the nervous energy to drive us through to victory. The reason is simple.
Protective foods demand more hard work from the farmer than the simple energy foods.
A pound of dry matter in poultry, dairy, or meat products costs five or ten times as much human energy to produce as a pound of dry matter in wheat. The bottleneck has been the lack of consuming purchasing power. Today our factory payrolls are at least a third higher than they were a year ago, and the payrolls per employed person about 14 percent higher, but the cost of living of factory workers has gone up only about 3 percent. This means that millions of people can now spend more on protective foods. At the same time, we must recognize that there are many millions who get paid very little and who are getting no more than they did a year ago.