Evening star., 1942-02-19

and cleanliness. It has been one of
the biggest of all war jobs. 1t is
taking UP large part Of the energies
of such gigantic industries as Swift
e. Co., and the others whose stock
yards and packing plants here long
has been described as constituting
one of the wonders of the new world
Got Initiation Early.
Fortunately. it was introduced to
some of the difficulties ahead more
than year ago by the lease lend
program of sending food to Great
Britain, and was able to develop
methods Of shipping and preserva-
ton which now stand it in good
stead. At the same time It must
continue its job of feeding the
civilian population.
At present, 1t appears, there will
be no shortage Of meat products for
the American household in spite of
the enormous drain Of the Army
and Navy on the Nations resources.
At the worst, 1t seems likely, there
may be some drop in various
speciality products which seldom are
encountered by the average citizen.
Major credit, of course, goes to
the farmer. He has been told by the
Government that it is his patriotic
duty to raise more cattle, pigs and
sheep, and with restrictions taken
OF crops, the most profitable use
that can be made of surpluses of
grain is for fattening meat stock.
But there is a long and devious
road between the farm and the
company cookshack or the home
kitchen. 1t takes time which Is little
| appreciated.
Food Involves Years
A little more than a year Is
required. for example, for the
farmer to produce a hog ready for
the market. About three years are
needed to produce a steer. 1t does
not pay to slaughter animals at
earlier ages. The beef farmer, 1t Is
explained, produces very little veal.
Most Of this is from bull calves
born on dairy farms. The owner
hasn't the pasturage to raise them,
or doesn't want to diversity his
business. Even a chicken requires
from 13 to Is weeks to be ready
for eating.
Then comes transportation and
processing. There are about 800
packers in the United States, some
of them with quite small establish
ments, but the bulk of the work
falls on a few big firms equipped
with mass production machinery by
which hogs or steers can be put
on the line" and turned out in the
form Of pork chops. hides and beef
steak less than an hour later.
1t would be completely impossible
to feed the American Army with
out such mammoth establishments.
Only about an eighth of the meat
consumed in the United States in
normal times is home killed and
cured. This would be essentially
worthless for Army and Navy pur-
poses, because the small man has
no means of guaranteeing standards
Improved Since Last War.
The packing business has under
gone very great developments since
| the last war-and the soldier Is
getting a much better break. There
has always been the problem Of
preservation and conservation Of
space. In 1918 the practice in sup
plying the Army with beef was first
to remove the bones. as far as pos
sible, and then freeze the meat in
800 pound blocks. These were sup
piled to the Army camps, especially
those overseas. This method guar
anteed to the A. E. F. a plentiful
supply of well-preserved, wholesome
meat back Of the lines. But the
soldier was at the mercy Of The mess
sergeant. Often these men did not
know cuts. One man might get a
chunk Of gristle. The next man In
line might get q porterhouse steak
I of quality to be had elsewhere only
in a first class hotel
Now the steer is processed into
chunks weighing from 10 to Is
pounds. One chunk will be roast,
another steak, another soup meat,
etc. Practically nothing is left to
the Judgment of the much-cursed
mess sergeant. He can't make a
mistake If he can read. This system
has been of inestimable value in
shipping food overseas. It saves
about 80 per cent Of the weight and
since the chunks can be piled up
like so many bricks instead Of hung
up-about so per cent in space.
Varied Menus Today.
In the last war, Swift & Co. Off
Gals explain, the soldier and sailor
lived largely on beef. 1t was the
easiest meat to process and ship.
He got beef three times a day. when
he got anything, in all sorts of
forms. There was a sad lack of
variety. Today the Army ration is
varied, with pork In all forms, veal
lamb, chicken, turkey. This has re-
quired of the packers development
of new packing and processing
methods. Some Army camps even