The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-09-16
NUTRITION AND
LABOR
THE CRIME OF
FOOD WASTE

Most immigrants or visitors from
Europe who reach our shores claim
that they are shocked by the amount
of food waste carelessly practiced
in this country. Food conditions in
Europe are much more restricted even
in normal times than they are here,
and besides, the general economic
status of the bulk of the population is
so much poorer that people show
greater respect for food than is shown
anywhere by our population. Food
waste is not considered merely a crime.
Rather is it regarded as Il sin. 1t is
for this reason that many religions
prescribe special prayers of atonement
for those guilty of waste For example,
according to the Jewish religion, a
person who drops Il piece of bread has
to say the following prayer: BLESSED
art Thou, Lord our God, King of the
Universe, who bringeth forth the grain
from the soil."S
Catholic peasants of Poland or Greek
Orthodox people of Russia will pick
up any piece of food lying on the
ground, make the sign of the cross, and
put the food in a place where it can
be consumed by animals. This is done
as a symbolic subterfuge common with
religious practices. The person who
does it feels that he has obeyed the
word of God and done the right thing
in avoiding waste. 1t makes little diff
ference whether birds or animals ac-
tually eat the Salvaged piece of, bread
His conscience will be at peace, be-
cause by removing the piece of bread
from the highway and by placing it
upon Il stone alongside, he has actually
acted us though he has saved the bread
for some animal that might enjoy it,
Symbolically speaking, this piece of
food was not wasted but made use Of.
Such is the reverence that people
everywhere show for food. Waste is
considered immoral and inhuman.
The cheaper food prices in this
country before the war; as compared
with those of Europe and the relative
conditions of abundance under which
we live has made us disregard this
ancient reverence. Besides, financially
| it was hardly worth the trouble to
save Il piece of bread or some remnant
of Il meal by transferring it to Il new
container, storing it in the ice box or
| putting it away in some other fashion.
Financially it would not amount to
much, and besides it looked small. Tn
der conditions of abundance the logic
behind this reasoning might be per-
fectly correct. The general atmosphere
of even the unequal prosperity that
prevailed in the twenties was strong
enough to make the people abandon
their traditional attitude toward food
and even gave prestige to the new and
waStetul manners.
With the coming of the war, how
ever, this new attitude toward food
WAS found in need of Il complete re-
vision. For once we must return to out
mOded habits and attitudes simply be-
cause necessity dictates it and times
have changed. When people Starve on
as vast Il scale as they do today in
many sections of the world, when farm
labor is difficult to obtain, when every
hour of labor is needed in the war
effort, wasting food is wasting lives
and wasting energy for victory. We
must now come to regard food as
ammunition, literally as Il soldier on a
scouting mission looks upon his ration
He knows that the more waste he per
mjtS the more he llndprminpS his So.
curity.
In our own situation the problem
even has several other aspects. All
food that we can rightly spare must
90 to our fighting forces and our allies
Wasting food on the home front, re
gardless of the form in which we d;
it. means depriving other people OF
bread.