Regulating Food and Fuel

Regulating Food 

To make sure that the troops would have plenty of food and supplies, Congress passed the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act. This law gave the government the power to set prices and establish production controls for food and for the fuels needed to run military machines. Wilson's administration also created agencies to manage and increase food production. Herbert Hoover led the Food Administration, whose slogan was "Food Can Win the War." Hoover's goals were to increase the produc tion of crops and to conserve existing food supplies for the military and for American allies. In order to encourage wartime production, he promised farmers higher prices for their crops. Farm production soared. Hoover asked Americans to plant vegetables at home in "victory gardens." He also urged Americans to eat less by participating in "meatless Mondays" and "wheatless Wednesdays.” His efforts paid off. By 1918 the United States had so much surplus food that it exported three times as much food as it had prior to the war. Another proposal to conserve food supplies was a prohibition, or ban, on alcohol. Most alcohol is made with food crops such as grapes and wheat. Prohibition would begin after the war.