BRITISH PROPOSALS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 May 1943, Page 3

BRITISH PROPOSALS

SUBMITTED TO FOOD CONFERENCE METHODS OF AVERTING SLUMPS. AND ENSURING STABLE TRADE. (British Officiil Wireless.) RUGBY, May 23. A statement issued by the British delegation to the International Food Conference at Hot Springs, Virginia, suggests the formulation of an international production programme and the maintenance of machinery for the coordinated purchase, allocation and transport of commodities most needed. Thus, it states, can repetition of the disastrous slump of 1921 be avoided. The statement emphasises that the enormous task of ensuring enough of the right kind of food for everyone at all times will involve an alteration in the methods' of production, an improvement in the consumption habits of millions of people, and expansion of international trade to levels never before attained.

In farming countries, improvement in diet must come from increased productivity and changed patterns of agriculture. In highly industrialised countries, where the 'consumer buys practically everything he eats, much can be done by subsidising the production and consumption of protective foods like milk, by provision of hot commuunal meals for school children and factory •workers, and by price adjustments which encourage the consumer to buy nutritionally desirable foods. ■ It is also considered imperative that a system of international trade in agricultural products should be . devised which ensures fair and stable prices to consumer and producer. Surpluses must be avoided through stimulation of consumption.

The delegation suggests the creation of an internationally-held balancing or ‘■buffer” stock which would ensure that the consumer always has ample supplies available and that the producer always has a purchaser for his product, and which, if properly managed, would shield both parties from violent short-term price fluctuations. Price stabilisation, the balancing of supply and demand, and steady expansion for efficient producers should be achieved through variations in the prices at which the authority controlling the buffer stock is both buyer and seller.