THE WORLD'S WHEAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 77, 11 January 1928, Page 2

THE WORLD'S WHEAT.

VARIATION IN CONSUMPTION. According to "Wheat Studies" of the Food- Research Institute in California, the wheat consumption in the United States amounts to less than a barrel of flour per capita annually. The best estimate is 90.4 per cent, of one barrel, or 1771 b. This quantity of flour contains 290,000 calories., around one-fourth of the annual requirement of an average adult. The average annual consumption of maize, rye, barley, and rice is small. Consumption of wheat flour in Canada, Australia, and Argentina is somewhat higher. It is doubtful, however, if the weighted average per capita consumption of flour in the four leading wheat-exporting countries amounts to a barrel a year. As nfearly as can be adjudged, the consumption of cereals in Europe is much higher—not far below 4001 b per person per year. Before the war the average consumption of cereal preparations, mostly wheat-flour, in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy was in the neighbourhood of 3001 b annually for each person. Consumption was higher in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and' the Balkan States. Since the war the diet of "Europe is more vegetarian than before the war, and part of the increase has fallen on eeerals. If the average consumption of cereals in Europe, outside of Russia, is about 3601 b for each person yearly, this would correspond to something like 1600 calo-i ries for each person daily, fully half of the calories in the diet. The consumption naturally varies from country to country. The United Kingdom, Holland, and Belgium have probably gone farther than other countries in Europe toward the return to the prewar diet. In Italy the Government has instituted propaganda in favour of wheat and against maize; in Germany the war-induced reaction against rye has continued in favour of wheat.