The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1917-10-02
WASHINGTON. D. C.

Dearest Edy:
A neighbor of mine told me this
morning that she didn't see any use
signing the Food Pledge now because
she didn't do it when the Food Admin
istration first published the card in
the newspapers a month or SO ago.
Did you ever hear of such an absurd
excuse?
Suppose some soldier should decline
to fight because he wasn't in the first
draft There would be just about as
much sense in it.
Of course the right time for every
woman to have signed the Food Pledge
was when the Food Administration
first asked it. for the request was not
made until the need was vital. But
that does not affect the fact that the
need grows every day. It will never
be too late to cooperate with the
Food Administration as long as the
burden of feeding the world rests up
on America. That's going to be not
only the length of this war, but
through the years Of reconstruction
after the war. Unless every house
keeper does her part, the world is GO
ing to actually suffer for food. 1t
seems to me there is quite enough suf-
fering now without adding the horrors
Of starvation. To prevent such a
thing we have got to study the Home
Card suggestions and follow them as
closely as possible. Everybody ought
to know that they were not made
lightly. They are all based on the &C
curate calculations made by food ex-
1 nf hn
Out of the long list of food prod
ucts we use daily it does not seem
| much of hardship to economic in
five. Do you think so, Edy dear?
Specially since we must have these
| France; to feed the soldiers of our
Allies; to insure the liberty of the
/ world
The new Home Card" tells the
whole story in its first paragraph
which says:
Our problem is to feed our Allies
this winter by sending them as much
| food as we can of the most concen-
trated nutritive value in the least
i shipping space. These foods are
wheat, beef, pork, dairy products and
sugar" The Food Administration
makes it clear at once that this is to
be accomplished not by boarding or
by skimping but by substituting food
products that cannot be sent to the
soldiers in the trenches for those that
! can be sent. We are not asked to
limit ourselves in any way that will
affect health. Neither are we asked
to greatly change our food habits.
Referring to our problem of feeding
our own soldiers and our Allies this
winter, the new Home Card" says:
Our solution is to eat less of these
| (wheat, beef, pork, dairy products and
sugar land more of other foods OF
which we have an abundance, and to
waste less OF all foods"
! The schedule for doing this brings
no hrdship to any one. To begin with
the wheat. We must send more wheat
/ to our Allies because England, Italy
France and Belgium taken together
| import, in peace time, forty percent
Of their breadstuffs But now with
! their reduction in harvest they must
import sixty percent. We must in,
| crease our normal export surplus OF
| $4,000 bushels to 220,000,000 bush
els" The Food Administration, goes
on to remind us that it can be done
in but one way,-by economizing and
substituting.
The plan for this is to have one
wheatless meal day; to use corn
! oats, rye, barley, or mixed cereal rolls
! mullins, and bread in place of white
bread, certainly for one meal and, ii
possible, for two We are asked to
eat less pastry. In the case of order
ing white bread from the baker it is
urged that we do so a day in advance
that he may not bake beyond his needs
/ We are told to cut the loaf on the table
and only as required, and to use all
stale bread for toast and cooking
| If everybody in the United States
uses just one pound less of wheat
flour per week the Food Administra-
ton assures US that there will be no