Sunday, August 5, 2012

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, FOOD IS AMMUNITION

"Food is Ammunition" poster photo Courtesy of: U.S. National Archives
This is a neat poster (aren't they all? ha).  It dates from WWI and was printed by the United State Food Administration.  It was obvious in its meaning, the food we were growing WAS ammunition for the war and don't waste it.  I believe there was an active campaign at that time to keep people from wasting food.  It was meant to keep people healthy, and feeding people at home and overseas, the troops included.

I dare say that's a problem today that is probably 100 times worse than it was back then.  I'm not sure we could adapt this for today.
"Food is money, don't waste it" perhaps?
Or "Food is ammunition for your body's health, don't waste it"?

Hope you enjoy this trip into our past.  As always, you can click on the history label/button to see all the poster images I've posted over the last year.

8 comments:

  1. Yes, that is such a neat poster. And like you said, the target purpose of the message is certainly even worse these days. (I write this as I have the bones of a roasted chicken bubbling away in a stockpot with corn cobs leftover after cutting the kernels off the fresh ears of corn - should make a great base stock for a pot of soup)

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    1. I love that you have the bones simmering away. We usually have a few bags of veggie scraps and meat bones in our freezer as well. I bet your soup will be delicious!! It is sad how much is wasted these days isn't it? Can you imagine what those who drafted these posters would think if they saw us now?

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  2. I just read yesterday that Americans waste (throw out) 14 to 40% of the food they buy in a year. I'll bet restaurants are even worse.

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    1. I totally believe that. I accidentally opened one of our neighbors trashcan when they were all lined up in the street thinking it was ours and they had veggies that looked perfectly fine, probably just thought they were in the fridge too long or something. Also a whole tray of dinner rolls, looks like it had never been opened. And you're right I bet restaurants are horrible (as are grocery stores). Sad sad.

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  3. I used to work in a grocery store (about 2 years ago) and they threw away produce that didn't "look" good, like it was the wrong shape or wasn't very round, because they said people wouldn't buy them because they didn't look like what people expect. So sad.

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    1. We saw a TV show that had something similar. People think something is wrong with a tomato for example if it's not perfectly round so they toss those. Everything had to meet an "ideal" to stay in the produce bin. Even things with a small bruise were thrown out. It's totally crazy. And sad.

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  4. I like your slogans for today. They fit. Great poster.

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    1. Aww, thanks! The poster is pretty cool. If I had an artistic bone in my body, I'd come up with my own version, ha.

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