FOOD SHORTAGE IN FIJI

Grey River Argus, 19 May 1943, Page 3

FOOD SHORTAGE IN FIJI

BEEF, BREAD AND BUTTER. SUVA, April 16. With a Government order further restricting the number of beasts to be killed in any one week. Suva butchers have announced that another beefless day will be observed each week. The position at present is that the butchers’ shops close one day during the week, when no meat of any description is sold, and on two other days only mutton and pork are sold when available. The master bakers have also announced that in compliance with Government orders no bread will be baked, on Wednesdays. . ~ There is no official restriction on the sale of butter, but this automatically applies from time to time when stores have none to sell. Shortage of labour for farm work and increased demand from soldiers buying meals in town restaurants and hotels have aggravated the position. Large numbers of soldiers habitually dine in town and this has affected the position in regard to meat and bread. Shortages of foodstuffs are general. The scarcity of vegetables is largely seasonal, although there is a large extra demand for fresh green vegetables from the Army. Eggs are very scarce. Recently they were selling from 6s 6d a dozen until the Government fixed the price at 4s 6d. In the matter of imported goods the community .as a whole has been fairly well catered for, and the general disposition appears to be to make the best of a situation which is unavoidable.

Luxuries such as cigars have been very scarce and pipe tobacco and cigarettes are off the market occasionally. But this deficiency appears to be largely compensated for by the generosity of visiting troops, who like to repay hospitality if only to the extent of forgetting their cigarettes when they leave. Scotch whisky is rarely seen outside the clubs, and the supplies of Australian whisky which replaced the proprietary lines are also dwindling. Australian rum, brandy and gin are replacing whisky, but shipments of Australian beer, are limited and irregular.

Efforts to import New Zealand beer, apart from shipments for the military, have not met with success. It is understood that this is due to increased demand in the Dominion and labour shortage.