Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-11-06
WHY TO SAVE FOOD, AND HOW.
2.-onservation-National Task and
Personal Duty.
BY DR.. Ray Lyman Wilbur.

Sometimes it actually seems as if there were
people-and lots of them, at that-who regard
conservation not much as principle as sort
of miraculous formula which will work magic
spell whereby food enough for all may be created
out of thin air.
They are perfectly we'll aware that no whisker-
ed alchemist ever did change lead to gold, that
patient inventor ever has discovered perpetual mo-
ton, and that explorer has yet penetrated the
jungle wherein bubbles the Fountain or Eternal
Youth.
But have they learned from :his-these people
whose motto in life Is Let George do IT,? Appar-
emily not for they still assume that the creation OF
food administration in Washington will solve all
food problems automatically. They expect to have
nice front orchestra seat where they can sit back
and watch magician named Conservation" step
out upon the stage, wave his wand mutter an
"Abracadabra!" or two, and then extract from the
previously empty gilt urn all sorts OF good things
to eat.
Unfortunately that isn't the way life works
nor food conservation either The only magic
there is in it is just precisely what yourself put
there. The only thing in the urn will be what you
put in, and leave in
In a democracy like ours there is just way
to vast store of food, and that is by the
renting and concerted voluntary effort Of all.
This applies to groups as we'll as individuals
There must be cooperation, and 1t must come
from those bodies in the democracy which are al
ready organized. Fraternal organizations must
do their share. Patriotic societies must not lag be-
hind. Associations Of labor must show themselves
not wanting in that hour when the very co-opera-
tion which is their watchword and aim can be en-
ployed for the good of the commonwealth.
Most Of ALL the churches must prove worthy
of their high calling The keystone of such
arch of organized conservation is necessary is
formed by sustained effort and Sef-denial for the
good of others. To the churches this aspiration
toward service for others is nothing Theirs
is the great opportunity of proving that they
are capable of practising what they preach.
But-you are probably saying to yourself
why neglect that organization which is at
most directly connected with food and which leads
most directly to personal effort? That organize
tion is. of course, the family. And this means the
of the land.
For in the main it is they, the home makers
and housewives, upon whom the saving of food de-
ponds. 1t is upon their foresight, their suscepti
bity to advice and their individual ingenuity and
devotion that national economy rests Food adj
minstraton is convenient term to designate
those who counsel or guide, but such effort can be
no more than a rope of sand unless it is supple
mented by the food administration of the home.
That is where the largest personal chance
in.
For family is like company of soldiers;
what it accomplishes whole depends in the
final analysis upon what each member accom-
rlishes. 1t is all summed up in chat phrase to
any thinking of the finest that the war has
coined of doing your Bit or better STILL of do
ing your utmost"
And If you do your bit-YOUR utmost-and
the next man does his, and the next woman hers
and the boy and girl theirs, what will be the prac-
tical result?
1t needs no gift of imagination to see The
human mind demands no charts and tables to grasp
the idea of food. Carloads Of wheat, thousands Of
tons of fats millions of other tons OF foodstufs In
general, will be released for the of those who
might otherwise go hungry. The ounces and
pounds of nutriment that saved will become
the tons which will balk the threat of starvation
That is why the food administration is asking
that such conservation be self-imposed task, to
be accepted.
Such a task, to be truly national, must also be
truly personal. And to be successfully personal it
must have the inspiration and impetus of being
tiona The two interlock and fuse. Neither
succeed without the other.
For, when all is said, the only sort Of achieve
ment which be genuinely national is the sort to
which every contribute And that oppor-
tunity-at duty and privileges before
the American people today in its task of food con-
servation.
How can I make the most Of this oppor-
tunity?" you asking.
And the answer-the thousand and one ways
and means, the manner in which others are solving
the problem-this answer is precisely what I am
going to tell you