THE FOOD CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 278, 23 August 1945, Page 6

THE FOOD CRISIS

The grim reality of the food shortage in Europe was made clear by the new British Foreign Secretary,_ Mr. Bevin, in a statement published yesterday. “The war,” he said, ended only just in time. We were on the eve of a great world food crisis. We cannot stop the decline this winter, but there are hopes that the 1946 harvest will check the decline. Next year will be vital.” The severity of food rationing in Britain during the last two years of the war had given some clue as to the serious shortage of supply, while from time to time information from Europe suggested that conditions there were critical. The Foreign Secretary has now revealed just how critical conditions actually were both in Great Britain and in Europe. Already the European winter has begun to set in, and it is finding practically every continental nation reduced to the barest rations, rations that in some cases will not be sufficient to keep large populations alive when the coldest months are reached at the end of the year. In the past few weeks UNRRA officials have appealed for greater assistance and have foreseen a calamitous situation if food and clothing cannot be provided for Europe’s needy in the coming months. A report published this morning adds reality to these fears. As many as 8,000,000 persons evicted from occupied countries have completely disrupted the plans for solving Germany’s food problem. Disease, arising from the tragically destitute condition of these wandering evicted persons, is spreading rapidly in various parts of the Continent. . . . This is the picture that the news paints of the food crisis in Europe. It is one that cannot be passed over at a glance by a country with such rich food-producing potentialities as New Zealand. 'I he reduction of our own meat and butter rations has been a step toward helping Britain’s food problem. Voluntary workers have to date packed for dispatch £250,000 worth of clothing for UNRRA relief work in Europe. In spite of this public recognition of the Dominion’s obligation, the Government, as the Leader of the Opposition pointed out in the House of Representatives on Tuesday night, did not see fit to include in the Budget any indication of Government plans for increasing production. It cannot be expected that Europe’s needs will be met by one good season when the present'winter trial is over. Indeed, as Mr. Bevin implied, the situation is on the. “decline” and the 1946 season can be expected to do little but check this decline. The call upon New Zealand may not, then, be only for this year. Certainly, as regards Great Britain alone, the need for New Zealand produce will spread out for many years, as little surplus produce can be expected from the Continent within the next two or three seasons. I here is a great need, then, for a definite plan of systematic increase of production in this Dominion and it is regrettable that this need has not been i ecognized in a practical manner by those in authority. It is on such a plan that the economy of the country must be based, and not on the vague assurances and generalizations which Ministers so readily use when speaking of fostering export trade.

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