OCR Text |
Show allies Mm trtUKt bbiCHU American Meat Restrictions Re laxed to Effect Greater Wheat Savings. ARGENTINE ARRIVALS SHORT, Meat Supply Here Considerably Enlarged En-larged Food Administration, However, Warns Against Waste. The allies have made further and ticreased demands for breadstulTs, Uiese enlarged demands being caused to some degree by shortage in arrivals from the Argentine. It is, therefore, necessary for the U. S. Food Administration Adminis-tration to urge a still further reduction in the consumption of bread and bread stulTs generally if we are to meet our export necessities.' The Food Administration Admin-istration has issued a statement explaining ex-plaining the situation in detail, particularly partic-ularly the reasons which lead it, for the purpose of centering effort for the time being upon the cereal situation to relax temporarily the restrictions on meat consumption. Experience shows, this statement says, that the consumption of breadstulTs bread-stulTs is intimately associated with the consumption of meat. For various reasons our supplies of meat for the next two or three months are considerably consid-erably enlarged, and we can supply the allies with all of the meat products which transportation facilities render possible and at the same time somewhat some-what increase our own consumption. In these circumstances the Food Administration Ad-ministration considers it wise to relax the voluntary restrictions on meat consumption con-sumption to some extent with a view to further decreasing bread consumption. consump-tion. Conservation of food must be adjusted ad-justed to meet necessities from time to time, for neither production, nor allied al-lied demands are constant factors, nor can any of these factors be anticipated for long periods in advance in the disturbed dis-turbed conditions in which we at present pres-ent live. While the world situation is not one that warrants any relaxation in the efforts to eliminate waste or to relax economy in food, the Administration Adminis-tration desires to secure better adjustment adjust-ment in ood balances. So long as the present conditions continue the only special restrictions we ask are the beefless and porkless Tuesday. The meatless meal and the porkless Saturday are no longer asked. The farmers of the United States are responding to the national call to increase hog production. Their Increase, In-crease, to all appearances, is being attained at-tained more rapidly. Of more immediate imme-diate importance, however, are several complex factors which have effected an immediate increase in meat supplies. sup-plies. The transportation shortage before the government took over the railroads, rail-roads, the bad weather in January and early in February, the large percentage percent-age of immature corn in the last harvest har-vest and the necessity of feeding this corn as rapidly as possible to save it from decay, have not only resulted in backing up the animals particularly 1 nogs on the farms for a longer period pe-riod of feeding, but have resulted in a great increase in their average weight and will result, with improved trans-1 trans-1 portation conditions, which already appear, ap-pear, in larger than normal arrivals at market for the next two or three months. The weight of hogs coming to the market for the past two weeks indicates an increase in weight of from an average of 203 pounds last year to the almost unprecedented average of 232 pounds, or a net increase in-crease in their meat value of over 15 per cent. This is a distinct addition to the nation's meat supply. It therefore there-fore now seems certain that we have such enlarged supplies for at least some months to come, that we can not only increase our exports to the allies to the full extent of their transportation transporta-tion facilities, but at the same time can properly increase our domestic consumption. The response of the public to our requests re-quests for reduced consumption of meat during the past few months has been most gratifying, and this service alone has enabled the government during dur-ing this period to provide such supplies sup-plies as transportation to the allies permitted. The Administration also suggests that in those parts of the country wfcere the old fashioned home preservation preser-vation of pork is still the custom, this practice should be extended at the present time, as it will relieve the burden bur-den upon transportation to and from the packing houses and is economically economical-ly sound as saving the cost of packing operations and at the same time will provide home supplies of pork to last over the months of decreased supplies The Food Administration desires to repet that it does not want to rfTe the impression that these are times when simplicity and moderation of living liv-ing are not critically necessary but that Its sole desire is to secure an a,i justment between our different fhoii supplies and meet changing conditions from time to time and to keep tht wrt, ,f""-T f"nk,y advised oM ," position with the fun confidence a",' reliance that whenever it becomes nec essary renewed appeals for saving will et the sume loyal response MUtt |