Evening star., 1947-12-11
Not Enough Food

Some overseas travellers have been quoted In
the press as declaring that they failed to see
any starving or even hungry people in Germany
NOW II there Is no real need Of food In Ger
many then many of us who have been giving
and VINO have been campaigning in behalf of
funds have sadly wasted our time and money
On the other hand, If genuine hunger exists,
then there is urgent need to correct false stories
lest the sources Of charitable nberality be dried
up and hunger truly become starvation.
AS a member OF an organization-the
Seventh-day Adventists-that has raised mil
lions for relief, took special occasion on my
trip to Europe last summer to visit Berlin, Ham
burg and Vienna, with view to learning what
I could about relief needs. I travelled to these
places on papers from the Press Section of the
British Foreign ONCE and was housed at British
Press Headquarters in these three cities, This
anorded me every reasonable opportunity to
make contacts and to interview officials I
thought 1t better to interview men who were
handling food distribution, rather than to rely
on my eye appraisal of what hungry person
should look like hurrying past me on the street.
/ wanted to discover how many calories
day were being made available to the Germans
in the British American zones The answer,
secured from a personal interview with one of
the officials of the Military Government, was
this: For the year ending April 30, 1947, the
daily food allotment was 1900 calories, with
conservatively higher allotments for certain
classes of manual workers and others with
special needs. Since then and up to the date
OF my visit in August, 1t had been between 900
and HOO, with relatively higher allotments for
certain classes. The ration was at that time be-
Ing raised to 1900 calories in anticipation OF a
good crop. To this should be added an est-
mated 200 calories day to the average Ger
mans diet from black market sources.
Caloric Figures Tell Story.
Now these figures, though specific, take on
meaning only when placed alongside figures
that show the number of calories needed for
good health. While nutritional authorities do
not agree exactly on the amount needed, the
following figures taken from an eminent work
on nutrition, are fairly representative: For
heavy manual work 5000 to 4500 calories; for
light manual work. $500 to $500; for sedentary
work 2100 to 25O0
These figures, compared with the ration
allowances in Germany, tell their own story
The on1cials interviewed in August hoped
that there would be a good crop and that the
allowances could be increased markedly by
October. That hope, as all Of us know, has not
overseas that has resulted in hurried endeavors
to provide stopgap relief.
But the situation has not only this acute
factor. 1t has also a long range one, as learned
from my interviews. Germany was never self
supporting agriculturally. She imported, In
prewar times, at least Is per cent of her food
In that part known as the Britsh-American
zone, she had to import 40 per cent. But in this
area there are now Is per cent more people
than before the war! This is due to Western
migration of Germans from Russian and Polish
occupied areas on the Eastern side of Germany
Further, the soil will not produce as much per
acre as formerly, because of lack of fertilizer
and lack of agricultural machinery.
The picture in Austria, as painted for me by
food official there Is essentially the same as
in Germany, so far as caloric totals are con-
cerned. The same false hope was entertained
regarding a good crop. However the long
range picture there Is brighter. Austria does
have cultivable acreage sufficient to support its
population, provided fertilizer. and agricultural
machinery is supplied.
If anyone wishes to check for himself on the
amount of food rationed to the Germans in
the British-American zone, let him add up the
coupons and the gram totals on the ration
sheets given to each German every month.
have samples of these before me as write
There is no uncertainty or guesswork in the
matter.
Starvation Not Problem.
In fact traveller to either Germany or Aus
tria need not eat from ration coupons to be
aware that something is gravely wrong with the
food situation. Let him eat at the British Press
Headquarters for example. What say here Is
no complaint. The British officials were models
Of courteous cooperation. They gave to the
press correspondents the best they had, but that
was pathetically limited as to food discov-
cred the unvarnished flavor of bread for often
there was neither butter nor jam with which
to varnish It, But I'm glad stayed in British
quarters, 50 that could more fully get the
"feel' Of the food problenl-in my stomach as
well as In my head.
Perhaps those who have returned from
European trips with cavalier comments about
seeing neither starvation nor hunger, stopped
ct quarters specially provided by the American