FOOD FOR BRITAIN

Grey River Argus, 7 October 1941, Page 6

FOOD FOR BRITAIN

AUSTRALIANS SPEED-UP. BUILDING OF SHIPS. Vigorous methods adopted by Australia in speeding-up the transport of her raw materials for Britain include the preparation of an Australian ship-building programme which, in time of peace, mignt have been considered to be impracticable. This move, with others taken by the Federal Government, is described in a recent article by Mr. Arthur Moorhead. “The German attack on British ships in the Atlantic has affected Australia as well as Britain,” says Mr. Moorhead. “And Australia too has faced up to the problem and is quickly finding an answer. Lt may be stated in a few words—her shipping has been so rationalised that fewer ships carry as much or more | cargo than before the war, her shipbuilding industry is becoming a vast national industry, and ner scientists are bringing from the laboratories into the" small factories methods bj which great food values may be shipped in very small spaces. “As soon as the war started tne management of ships coming here was taken over by the Overseas Central Committee, which is the British Government’s representative in Australia. Before this ships often wandered up and down the coast for weeks at a time delivering and picking up cargoes: this was a great peace-time problem, because often I the cargoes necessary to fill ■ the space offering were as far apart as Cairns and Hobart, perhaps a thousand miles. “But when the Overseas Committee took control it so organised th-? whole of Australian transport that the steamer was unloaded and load- . ed to capacity at its first port of call. To accomplish this successJ fully the co-operation of traffic experts, those workers engaged in tno actual loading and unloading carters, t shippers, and of course the ship’s crews had to be obtained. The fact I that practically all refrigerated car- , go offering has been shipped in the [ limited space available is proof of [ how successful this co-operation i has been. , “Next the Australian shipyards set to work to replace the lost ton- . nage and to take over certain sect ’ ions of ship armament, which left i British yards free for the work they were better able to do. Particularly in the construction of small navi al vessels have our shipbuilders ex- , celled. 1 “In Australian yards tne method is somewhat different from that m ’ \ operation overseas. Here the whole I of the vessel from the hull to tne I furniture is built in the same yard, . | abroad, the hull often is built in one, . 1 the engines in another, and the titti ings let out to a series of small con-

tractors. “There has also been tremendous expansion in the production of naval armaments: in audition to the Government factories more than a hundred commercial firms, with factories in all States of the Commonwealth, are now engaged in the production of naval vessels, naval armament stores or their components “This section naturally did not reach its peak of production immediately. It has not reached it yet Every week more tools are being manufactured, more workmen trained, more men and plant assembled for more production. “It is possible that the greatest factor in overcoming the sea raider will be the packing of food. Even before the war bulk was a consideration to Australian producers, who had to compete with those nearer the European market. the war therefore found experiments well on their way. As an example let us take eggs: they were shipped in two ways. They were either carefully packed in shell in cases and carried as refrigerated cargo, or they were pulped and frozen into a solid mass which was not melted out till it reached the cooks’ kitchen. Now we have a process for powdering eggs, which will also be carried as general cargo, thus saving the expensive rel frigerated holds. “The dehydration of vegetables, a process which has had the effect ol enabling submarines to parry food for indefinite periods, is hot new to Australia, and this process has nearly reached the stage where it will be a payable proposition to ship fruit and vegetables by air. “The powdering of apples, _ no,. quite the same as dehydration, is of great interest for two reasons, economically because the apple-grow-ing industry has been one of greatest sufferers from lack of shipping space, and medically because of tne extrordinary food value of the pow- ' dcred apple. It has been found that • this powder, if added to cows milk, ' will replace the lactic acid now used to'make it suitable for infant food: and it will not curdle. As food for those suffering from gastric troubles ' it has certain qutflities which cannot be obtained from any other food; ! and lastlv it has all the food value of the--ordinary apple, but with a small percentage of its bulk.” ’ “When we come to meat packing we find that experiments are com1 plete and the processes well cn the way to commercial adoption. In the ! ease of beef the dried product gen- ’ era'lly is in pieces about the size or peppercorns they are pressed and packed in any waterproof covering—and they > too can be carried as general cargo. So we have a saving of space and temperature before we come to the food value. Mere we have accurate figures: a cubic foot of dried beef contains between 36 i and 40,000 calories as against only 26,000 in beef quarters in refrigerators. From this it will be seen that the amount of • shipping necessary to carry the whole of Australia's production will be a great deal less than that of two years ago.”