The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1942-11-12

washington, -. C.-ln our ma
ton, which has produced re-
cord-breaking supply of food this
year and which for many years
has had problem of disposing
of all the food it produced, the
possibility of hunger due to]
scarcity has never been consid-
cred.
Yet the authorities in this city
who are handling the nations
food supply say that we may face
a serious food problem next year
unless drastic steps are taken now
to prevent it.
AS they see it, the threat of a
food problem evolves around
these points: (1) our armed fore
es, who eat much more in their
present active life than they did
when home, must continue to be
supplied with the best of food;
(2) the low-income group in this
country is now earning more
money and is consequently buy
ing much more food than usual;
90 we are obligated to supply
our allies with large quantities
of food; (4) farm help is scarce
due to the number of farm men
who have gone into the armed
forces and who have been at
tracted to the cities by more luc-
rative jobs in war industries; (5)
the agencies handling the prob
lens of food supply in the gov
eminent are not working together
closely enough and even If e.
nough food is produced for all
our needs there is apt to be a
bottleneck in distribution.
Because of this many-headed
problem of food supply, those
dealing with it have asked the
President to appoint a food ad-
ministrator who will have the
power to control all factors in
the food industry and take nee
essary steps to keep food growing
and moving at a record rate.
Those who are demanding a
food administrator point out that
there now are entirely 'too many
cooks" who have a finger in the
food problem. The department
of agriculture is charged with re-
sponsibility for production, but
production is partly labor prob
lem which is in the hands OF the
War Manpower commission;
transportation is the problem OF
the Office of Defense Transporta-
ton. but distribution, which is
so closely allied to it, is in the
hands of the Office of Price Adj
ministration; several groups are
mixed up in the pricing of food,
including the President himself,
and the manufacturing and pro-
cessing of food products is in the
hands of the War Production
board.
1t is easy to see that with so
many groups concerned with the
flow of food from the farm to the
consumer, there are bound to be
all kinds of difficulties unless the
work of each group is planned to
mesh with the plans of all other
groups. This, say food manufac-
turers and farm experts, requires
the grouping of all departmental
functions under one boss-and it
is expected that the President
will appoint a food car to take
charge.
Probably the greatest difficult
ty in the whole food problem is
the expected scarcity of farm la
Dor next year. The War Man
power commission is trying to
cope with this problem, which is
apt to result in sending men from
cities to the farms, exempting
some farm workers from military
service and employing women
and high school boys and girls for
farm work.
The President is now consider
ing a request for the registration
of the women of the country,
which doesn't necessarily mean
that women will be forced to ac-
cept necessary employment but |
which will get them lined up
"just in case" Undoubtedly a
major campaign to get women to
work on farms will be carried on
next spring, but on voluntary
basis if possible.
AS soon as a stable number of
the new 1919 draftees have been
taken into the army, the Presi-
dent and army officials have in
timated that older men now in
service will be released for farm
and industrial employment. It
has been found that many of the
men over IS are not physically
capable of coping with the vigo-
rous army life and could be of
more service to their country in
7