THE WORLD'S FOOD SUPPLY

By G. B. ROORBACH,

Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Pennsylvania.

The number of staple foods as distinguished from the luxuries that constitute the world's dietary are comparatively few. Many thousands of articles make up man's food, but a few form his chief dependence. Standing far at the head of the list are the grainsrice, wheat, millet, rye and barley. Whether measured by bulk of production, the food energy they contain, or the amount that enters international trade, these five grains, together with corn, oats and beans, are the chief food dependence of man. Sugar occupies a very high place as a food for nearly all peoples. Of the vegetables, the potato is exceedingly important, especially in the western world, but, although very great in bulk, its food value is much less than the grains and sugar. Fruits and nuts are of still less importance as staple articles of vegetable diet. Tea, coffee and cocoa are luxuries rather than vital elements in the world's food supply.

Meat, compared with vegetable products, stands surprisingly low in food value and in importance to most of the human race. Over one-half of the people of the earth eat very little meat. Only in new countries, where land is cheap, or in countries like those of western Europe where meats and animal fodder can be readily imported, are meat-producing animals so abundant that they are of large importance as a food. Even in this latter case, the consumption is small compared to countries like Argentina or the United States. The world production of meat-beef, pork and mutton— is only one-fifth of the world's tonnage of wheat, and the food value less than any of the important grains, sugar or potatoes. If dairy products-milk, butter and cheese-are added to the meat products, the importance of animals as a source of food is much greater. The money value of dairy products in the United States, for example, is higher than the money value of the edible grains, and the energy value of these concentrated foods ranks high. With the 1 See Figure 9, p. 26.

FIG. 1. TOTAL FOOD VALUE OF THE CHIEF WORLD FOODS EXPRESSED IN CALORIES.

RICE, WHEAT AND SUGAR ARE PRACTICALLY ALL CONSUMED AS HUMAN FOOD. SOME OF THE RYE AND BARLEY IS DISTILLED OR USED FOR MALT AND USED FOR
ANIMAL FOOD. A CONSIDERABLE PART OF THE POTATO CROP IS USED FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES.-DATA FROM G. K. HOLMES The Meat Situation in the
United States.

TABLE I

VALUE OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF FOODSTUFFS AND ESTIMATED Value of PRODUCTION FOR VARIOUS COUNTRIES 2

exception, however, of a few localities, animal foods are of very much less importance than vegetables.

The bulk of the world's food supply is produced in the countries in which it is consumed. Large as is the international trade in food products, it represents but a small proportion of the food grown and consumed at home. The United Kingdom and Belgium, which are usually mentioned as the countries dependent for food upon the outside world, are exceptions to the rule. Even these countries produced in the pre-war period 53 per cent and 57 per cent respectively of their own requirements. Germany, according to the same estimates, supplied 88 per cent of her requirements, and France 93 per cent. Sparsely populated Argentina, which we think of as primarily a food exporting nation, actually consumes nearly twice as much as she exports. The United States produces more than ten times the value of her exports and, most surprising of all, food importations into the United States, measured in dollars, are slightly greater than food exportations. In other words, the United States is scarcely able to pay for imported foods with what is exported. When we balance accounts we find our soils are supporting only our own population. Russia, which

Data from N. C. Murray and F. Andrews: Food Production and Requirements of Various Countries. Farmers' Bulletin, No. 641, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

'Ibid.

we think of as a great food surplus country, has a paltry 10 per cent surplus left for exportation after her own requirements are satisfied. As far as the staple foods that satisfy the hunger of mankind are concerned, the world's table is set with products grown near at home.

AVERAGE.

THE HEAVIER SHADED AREA INDICATES THE PART OF PRODUCTION THAT ENTERS INTERNATIONAL TRADE. CHINA IS NOT INCLUDED.

Although the grains are by far the most important foods that enter world trade, only a small proportion of the crops produced goes beyond the borders of the countries in which they were grown. Figure 2 shows that wheat and barley only have any considerable percentage of export as compared with total production, amounting to about 20 per cent in each case. The proportions of vegetables exported are insignificant when compared with production.

SOURCES OF WORLD FOOD

The principal food producing countries, as well as the consuming countries, are in the temperate zones. The tropics, containing one-third of the land area of the globe, are barely able to support one-third of the world population. The north temperate zone, comprising nearly one-half of the land area, contains almost two-thirds

of the population. If we except coffee, cacao, and about one-half of the world's tea-luxuries rather than foods-only two crops of large importance for the outside world are supplied by the tropics: rice and sugar. In the case of rice, some of the largest producing countries, China, Japan, Italy and the United States, are in the temperate zone and the cane sugar of the tropics makes up only a little over half of the total sugar production. Tropic fruits, especially the banana, are important food exports in a few favored localities. But aside from these three crops, the tropics are not producing any important food surpluses for a hungry world. The wonderful food producing ability of the tropics is potential, not developed. They may be the producers of the food surplus of the future, but they are not important sources today.

Many tropical countries are not feeding themselves, but are dependent upon the temperate zone. Brazil, for example, is a large importer of wheat; Cuba is one of the largest meat importing countries. Even rice in large quantities is imported for consumption into Java, the Philippines, the Straits Settlements and the American tropics. India is one of the largest sugar importing countries. The only sections of the tropics that today are at all important in supplying food products are: (1) Indo-China, Siam and Burma, which are all exporters of rice. Most of this crop goes to other tropical countries, however, and in these days of few ships the great distance of these lands from Europe and America is a serious handicap to fully utilizing these supplies; (2) Java, Cuba, Porto Rico and other West Indian Islands, Hawaii and some other tropical lands which supply most of the cane sugar of exports; (3) West Indies and Central America, which send much fruit, especially bananas, to the temperate zones. The shortage of food has stimulated production in the tropics, especially of sugar, to a certain extent, but a rapid extension of agriculture, at all commensurate with the present needs, is impossible. The task is one requiring a period generations long, not years long, and is dependent upon the whole big question of making the tropics habitable and efficient; not one to be solved to meet the emergencies of a world war.

It is in the north temperate zone that we find not only the greatest food needs but also the largest production of today. Measured by production two of the most important agricultural regions of the world are eastern China and Japan, and central and west