FOOD: Broken Promise

Former Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts was the bearer of shocking news. As a spokesman for “Food for Freedom” —a little volunteer organization—he was prepared to lay some ugly facts before the President this week.

¶ The U.S. had promised to deliver 300,000,000 pounds of meat to UNRRA in the first three months of 1946—but by last week UNRRA had received only 3.1% of the quota.

¶ Of 1,200,000 tons of wheat promised to UNRRA for the first quarter of the year, the U.S. had delivered but 600,000.

UNRRA would get only 2.8% of the 1,300 million pounds of fats and oils the nation would produce in January, February and March; all U.S. exports would total only 200 million pounds.

Justice Roberts would tell the President that Food for Freedom’s members—and many another citizen—believe that the U.S. can and must earmark far more of its food for shattered Europe. To fail to deliver the present quotas, he believed, was unthinkable.