In 1917 there was a world wide shortage of food. This poster illustrates the concerns the Federal Government had in trying to manage the food supply domestically in order to supply our World War I allies who had suffered great crop losses. The goal was to have the civilian population make the most of the corn production and have as much wheat as possible for the troops overseas. In the war driven atmosphere, the idea of conservation and increased production was on the minds of everyone. The United States Food Administration was responsible for the overall management of what got planted and what got shipped overseas.

Population growth, the war, poor distribution methods, and damaging weather came together and basic commodities such as corn and wheat products were in short supply. The number of young men who left the farms to go to war was also a factor in overall production volume. The availability of seed supplies varied across the country and, as the passage above suggests, you could turn surplus seed into cash in quick order. Farmers were urged to put all available resources into planting in order to increase the basic volume of food materials.

The United States Food Administration produced hundreds of propaganda posters like this one. Every way to tell the story of "use less and send more food overseas" was produced. Posters and targeted social policy art were widely used in this period just as the WPA (Work Projects Administration) did during the Great Depression.

From the beginning of 2005 to early 2008, world wide prices of wheat leapt 80 percent, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. Since 1980, America's control of the world trade in wheat has dropped from 50% to 25% as more countries are catching up and developing their own amber waves of grain.

Created/Published : Harrison-Landauer Inc., Baltimore, Maryland 1918

Creator : Lloyd Harrison, artist

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

Availability: Usually ships in 1 week

Product #: cph3g10122