FOOD SITUATION IN GERMANY

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22017, 15 February 1937, Page 17

FOOD SITUATION IN GERMANY

WINTER RESTRICTIONS CAUSE GRUMBLING

FINANCIAL COLLAPSE THOUGHT ■^^UNUKELY^.. BERLIN, January 22. The view commonly held abroad that the food situation in Germany is so critical as to iead to a collapse either of finance or supplies this winter is not borne out by investigations made on the spot. These reveal that there is great dissatisfaction, especially among the poorer classes, because certain foods cannot be obtained, and there is a general rise in price. On the other hand, it is clear that the Government will be able, by hook or by crook, to reserve sufficient foreign currency to enable purchases to be made abroad when an emergency arises.

This has. been made possible by recent measures calling on owners of foreign securities to sell them for reichsmarks. Again, holders of foreign exchange have been threatened with imprisonment if they have not surrendered it before the end of the present month.

There is no doubt that the situation is extremely unsatisfactory. Germany now has to live on her last resources—a fact which, in its turn, makes the purchase of raw materials for manufacture still more precarious.

The German Palate The traveller sees little evidence of shortage, especially if he realises the manner in which the German normally lives. The variety of foodstuffs in France or in England has never existed here.

In the poorer districts of Berlin and other towns the housewife finds that she can never count on buying the amount of meat that she wants, but has to take whatever may be there. As prides have risen she has to pay more while taking what she did not necessarily want. Grumbling naturally results. The butter queues of last year no longer exist, but a form of rationing will come into effect soon. The ration is small—the equivalent of fourth-sevenths of an ounce a day. The quality of the butter is not particularly good, and milk is noticeably thinner than in England or France. Cream is only obtainable when ordered in advance, and not always then. No fresh eggs can be obtained in the legitimate course of trade, though there is a tremendous amount of "black market" selling throughout the country. Here again the poorer classes are proportionately harder hit than the well-to-do.

Margarine cannot be bought in the ordinary way and is supplied only to those who receive relief. It costs nearly as much as butter and is of poor quality.

Typical Prices | The "readjustment of nutrition," of which much has been made in the press, remains theoretical and j has not yet reached the shops. As a result the poorer householder still has to buy—or try to buy—what he bought before, only to find that he often has to take a substitute and pay more than a year ago. Prices charged to-day in the ordinary small shop in Berlin are given below. The official rate of exchange is one mark, or 100 pfennigs,.equal to Is Bd, but the actual purchasing power is probably rather higher. The pound quoted is the. German

pound, which equals one and onetenth English pounds. The charges are: Bread (white): 50 pfennigs per lb. Rye bread: 18 pfennigs per lb. Milk: 24 pfennigs a litre (IS pint's). Cream: 2 marks a litre. Pork: 1 mark. 30 pfennigs per lb. Beef: 1 mark 20 pfennigs per lb. Veal: 1 mark 60 pfennigs per lb. Lard: 80 pfennigs per lb. Butter: 1 mark 60 pfennigs per lb. Eggs (preserved): 12 and 13 pfennigs each. Reform of Fish Shops The Association of German Retail Traders has been called upon to provide £165,000 to extend and modernise fish shops already in existence and to provide new ones where required. The suggestion has also been made that fresh-water fish should be cultivated intensively in special fish ponds and that existing ponds should be adapted for fish breeding. A diminished food supply, due in the main to direct and indirect import restrictions, coincides with increased consumption—though consumption has not yet reached the 1928 level.

This is due in part to the increased employment because of the armaments boom and in part, also, because the German army—like the Reichswehr before it—is extremely well fed for much the same reasons as inspire a similar policy in Russia. With the enormous increase in numbers after the introduction of conscription and the, doubling of the periods of military service the priority given to army supplies has come to play an important part in the national economy.