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American Food and Hunger Overseas.A. A. BERLE, JR.
In the years following the first World War, this government through various organizations financed and sent food to Russia, Poland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France; and sent less amounts to other countries. Only when the normal processes of reopened trade made it possible for the populations of these countries to obtain adequate food through normal channels did we cease to send relief. We did it on the straightforward theory that a land of plenty had a duty to humanity. During the present war, the government has followed, so far as possible, the same policy. Naturally it has had to be modified by changed conditions, and by the exigencies of military situations which we did not create. Relief has taken various forms. In some cases—Finland, for instance—loans have been made permitting purchases of food here and its shipment abroad. Shiploads of relief have been sent to unoccupied France. Other shiploads of food have been sent to Spain. Only recently arrangements were made to send two shiploads of food to Ireland. We have not felt that the policy of relief could be determined wholly by arguments over the question of who is responsible for the distress. We realize perfectly that the forces of invasion and aggression are the direct cause of the want and hunger and starvation of great populations. It would be very easy to say that we ought simply to leave the problem to the people who are responsible for creating it. But that is not a complete answer. The populations of these countries still have to live; and in their children may very well lie the hope for a free and civilized Europe. Instead, therefore, of asking "Who is responsible for this?" we have asked, "Will the relief actually do any good? Or will it merely feed one group in one place and increase misery elsewhere by encouraging or assisting invaders or aggressors to requisition, or seize, or buy with worthless currency, or otherwise take away for themselves, food which ought to go to the populations of these countries?" If the latter, plainly the relief does not assist in the slightest. The technique of modern economic warfare has developed endless ways for draining a country dry of its essential food supplies. Shipments of relief to the population would not assist that population unless it were possible to establish virtually an economic control system in neutral or nonbelligerent hands within the country. This is extremely difficult in time of war within military lines. There is a widespread misconception that the food difficulties in Europe are chiefly due to the allied blockade. Such information as we have indicates that the chief difficulty is due to the disturbance of crops and harvests and transport and local distribution; and to the requisitioning and economic policies pursued on the continent itself. The German government has stated authoritatively that it does not consider that an invader has any responsibility for feeding the population of the country which it has invaded; and that it will, as a matter of course, assure that Germany will receive the benefits of whatever supplies do exist in Europe to the extent that she needs them. In the light of this, the difficulty of carrying on any effective policy of feeding in territory occupied within military lines is obvious.
Passing from the very grim picture in Europe, the Western Hemisphere offers a happier aspect. It is commonly said that there are great food surpluses in the Americas—and this is true. But most of these surpluses would promptly disappear if all of the Americas were fed according to the standards recommended by the Nation Nutrition Conference for Defense. The farmers of Canada, of the United States, and of many of the South American Republics would not be worried over overseas markets if every family on the American continent had the food which it ought to have to improve the health of the Americans of the future. The Department of Agriculture, has been giving careful thought to this problem; and has been working out plans which I hope, within the not too distant future, may offer some fascinating possibilities Although the United States is the best-fed country in the world, there are millions of people who do not, and some who cannot, obtain the food that they really need. This is even more true in many of the other American Republics. The problem is partly one of finance; it is also a problem of education. Whenever the problem of education is solved, I am confident that the economic relations between the Americas are close enough so that a solution will be found to the problem of payment. In the Americas, at least, we have passed that point. Whenever the resources are there, and the need is there, we can work out ways of getting the supply to the need. In its international aspect, the problem of proper feeding combines three great elements. The first is the scientific element—the careful analysis of what is really needed, and education of the public to insist that need be filled. The second is economic—the working out of ways and means by which the supplies can reach the localities where they ought to be used. The third is sentimental or, if you like, moral—the, feeling which everyone ought to have that the providence of God put these supplies in the world to be used for the strengthening of life; and that it is the job of everyone to see that they are so used.
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