Final Act of the
United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture
Hot Springs, Virginia, United States of America
18th May—3rd June, 1943

In the midst of World War II President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited representatives of the allied (united) nations to meet in Hot Springs to discuss post-war plans for rebuilding and for meeting the challenges of a world in need, especially related to food and agriculture. The following are excerpts for the full report.

SUMMATION OF THE WORK OF THE CONFERENCE BY THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL.

The Conference met to consider the goal of freedom from want in relation to food and agriculture. In its resolutions and its reports, the Conference has recognized that freedom from want means a secure, adequate, and suitable supply of food for every man.

All men on earth are consumers of food. More than two-thirds of them are also producers of it. These two aspects of gaining subsistence from the soil cannot be separated. Man cannot eat more foods and more healthful foods unless these foods can be obtained from the land or the sea in sufficient quantities. If more and ‘better food is to be available for all people, producers must know what they are called upon to do. They must equally be assured that their labors will earn them an adequate livelihood.

The work of the Conference emphasized the fundamental interdependence of the consumer and the producer. It recognized that the food policy and the agricuItural policy of the nations must be considered together: it recommended that a permanent body should be established to deal with the varied problems of food and agriculture, not in isolation, but together.

The work of the Conference also showed that the types of food most generally required to improve people’s diets and health are in many cases those produced by methods of farming best calculated to maintain the productivity of the soil and to increase and make more stable the returns to agricultural producers. In short, better. nutrition means better farming.

The Conference declared that the goal of freedom from want can be reached. It did not, however, seek to conceal the fact that it will be first necessary to. win freedom from hunger. In the immediate future, the first duty of the United Nations will be to win complete victory in arms: as their armies liberate territories from tyranny their goal will be to bring food for the starving. The need to reach freedom from hunger before seeking freedom from want was understood, and resolutions were adopted on this subject. These covered both the planning of agricultural production and the adoption of measures to prevent violent fluctuations in prices resulting from the shortages of the transition period.

Many delegates informed the Conference about the state of health in their respective countries. It was made clear that there was a close. connection between many prevalent diseases and deficiency in diets The important part played by malnutrition in maintaining child mortality rates at a high level was also established. It was apparent that in all countries there are large sections of the population who do not get adequate and suitable food for health; in many countries the majority of the people are in this situation.

The Conference has not attempted to lay down ideal standards of nutrition for all peoples. It has recognized that, while the ultimate objective must be a world in which all people are fed in full accordance with the requirements of good health, it will be necessary as a practical measure to concentrate on intermediate goals which can be progressively raised as conditions improve. These intermediate goals must differ from region to region according to climate, taste, social habits, and other circumstances. These goals are therefore primarily a matter for individual governments to determine.

One of the most important recommendations of the Conference is that the governments and authorities represented should declare to their own people and to one another their intention to secure more and better food for the people. Various measures which might be taken for this purpose were discussed. These included education, special provision for particular classes of the population, and the improvement of the quality of food available.

The Conference recognized that a great increase would be needed in the production of food if progress is to be made toward freedom from want….Section II discussed how this increase could be brought about. It was recognized, however, that to a varying extent in different countries and at different times there would be insufficient food of kinds required for health. It might, therefore, be necessary to take measures. to see that special groups of the population, such as young children and pregnant women, who most need these foods, obtain at least their minimum requirements, even if this means reducing the supplies for the rest of the population below what they would otherwise consume.

The Conference considered how agricultural production could be. increased and adapted to yield the supplies most needed by consumers. Its began its work with the assumption, which was confirmed by the conclusions of Section I, that more production was needed if the people of the world were to have sufficient food for adequate nutrition, and that both new and existing production would have to be adjusted to secure more of those. "protective" foods which are most necessary for good health.

Before discussing methods by which these changes could be brought about, the Section examined the short-term position immediately after the liberation of occupied territories. It was generally agreed that this period will be one of shortage, the exact incidence and extent of these shortages being governed by the circumstances in which various territories are liberated from the enemy. During this period the first call will be to reach freedom from hunger in areas devastated by the war. Until these lands themselves are able to produce a harvest, the most urgent demand will be for cereals. and other foods which maintain human energy and, satisfy hunger.

The Conference agreed that while shortages lasted there should be coordinated action by governments both to secure increased production and to prevent speculative and violent fluctuations in prices.

The conditions . of shortage existing at the end of hostilities will be exceptional, and it should not be too long before the production of basic energy foods is sufficiently restored to provide for freedom from hunger. When that state is reached it will be necessary to increase wherever possible the emphasis on production of foods containing first-class protein and other protective qualities necessary to good health, according to the standards considered by Section I of the Conference.

There is danger that the heavy demand for energy foods which will arise from the immediate period of shortage may lead, as the shortages are overcome, to overproduction of these foods unless governments act with foresight in guiding producers to alter their production programs in accordance with the long-term requirements The actual programs must be drawn up to suit tile particular circumstances of each country, but the Conference agreed upon broad general principles which should serve as a guide in making these programs in all countries. These principles cover not only the adjustment of production to fit the long-term requirements of a better diet, but also improvements in the general efficiency of production. The Conference also recommended certain particular measures of more general application for carrying them out.

In addition, the Conference recommended measures for new agricultural development. It was the opinion of the Conference that some parts of the world which at present are unproductive could be brought into agricultural production if the appropriate measures were applied. At the same time, it was recognized that, in some areas of rich potentialities, development is impeded by overcrowding of farmers on the land. While something can be done to increase the productivity of these areas by improving methods of farming, by drainage and similar measures, it was recognized that in some cases the development of industry to provide employment for agricultural populations or emigration to other areas were the only measures likely to offer any significant contribution to a solution of the problem.

The Conference recognized that it is useless to produce food unless men and nations have the means to acquire it for consumption. Freedom from want cannot be achieved unless there is a balanced and worldwide expansion of economic activity.

The deliberations of the Conference in Section III, which was set up to investigate the improvement of distribution, clearly showed that consumers would not be in a position to buy the food they needed, and producers of food could not be assured of adequate returns, unless progress was made through national and international action to raise the general level of employment in all countries. Moreover, as discussions in Section I emphasized, poverty is the first cause of malnutrition and hunger.

The work of Section III established the close interdependence between the level of emp1oyment in all countries, the character and extent of industrial development, the management of currencies, the direction of national and international investment, and the policy adopted by the nations towards foreign trade. The Conference was not invited to conduct a detailed investigation into the policies which should be adopted by the governments of the world in order to promote an expansion of economic activity; but it declared that freedom-from want of food could not be fully achieved without such an expansion and urgently recommended the governments and authorities represented to take action individually, and in concert, in order to secure this objective.

Having drawn attention to the fundamental importance, in the approach to freedom from want of food, of policies to expand and quicken economic activity, the Conference discussed the place and functions which might be given, within the framework of such policies, to international arrangements for the control of basic staple foodstuffs entering international trade. There was agreement that the objects of any such arrangements must be to eliminate excessive short-term movements in the prices of food and agricultural commodities, to mitigate general inflationary or deflationary movements, and to facilitate adjustments in production which may be necessary to prevent economic dislocation.

The Conference agreed that any such arrangements should include the effective representation. of consumers as well as producers. It was not possible for the Conference, in the time available, to discuss future international commodity arrangements in detail. Discussion in Section III was directed to general questions of principle affecting the operation of such arrangements as might later be. made. The two questions to which most attention ‘was paid’ were:

(a) The place which buffer stocks should occupy. in these arrangements’; and

(b) how far it would be necessary to achieve the desired objectives to include within the general arrangements agreements for the. regulation of production.

The Conference agreed that further international discussion of these questions ought to take place with a view to the establishment of broad principles to govern the formulation and operation of future commodity arrangements.

There was general agreement that, whatever the nature of the arrangements eventually made for individual commodities, machinery would be needed for coordinating their operations in the light of the broad principles to be agreed upon.

It became clear at a comparatively early stage of the Conference that there was general agreement that the nations represented at the Conference should establish a permanent organization in the field of food and agriculture. It was also generally agreed that this organization should act as a center of information and advice on both agricultural and nutrition questions and that it should maintain a service of international statistics. The Conference did not, however, attempt to lay down in detail what the scope and functions of such an organization should be or its relationship to other national or international bodies. It was agreed that these questions would have to be worked out in detail between representatives of the participating governments. Accordingly, the Conference recommended the establishment in Washington of an Interim Commission, one of the functions of which would he to draw up for submission to the governments and authorities represented a detailed ‘plan’ for the permanent organization.

The United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture has shown that the governments and authorities represented are agreed upon the necessity of their taking action individually and in concert to achieve freedom from want of food. The reports and recommendations of the Conference indicate further agreement on the methods to be followed. The Conference has accordingly recommended that the governments and authorities represented should recognize their obligation to their own people and to one another to raise the levels of nutrition and the standards of living of their citizens, to improve the efficiency of agricultural production, and to cooperate one with another for the achievement of these ends. The Conference resolved that the Interim Commission to be established in Washington should prepare such a declaration or agreement in this sense for the consideration of the governments and authorities represented.

RESOLUTIONS
Declaration

This Conference, meeting in the midst of the greatest war ever waged, and in full confidence of victory, has considered the world problems of food and agriculture, and declares its belief that the goal of freedom from want of food, suitable and adequate for the health and strength of all peoples, can be achieved’.

1. The first task is to complete the winning of the war and to deliver millions of people from tyranny and from hunger. During the period of critical shortage in the aftermath of war, freedom from hunger camp be achieved only by urgent and concerted efforts to economize consumption, to increase supplies and distribute them to the best advantage.

2. Thereafter we must equally concert our efforts to win and maintain freedom from fear and freedom from want. The one cannot be achieved with the other.

3. There has never been enough food for the health of all people. This is justified neither by ignorance nor by the harshness of nature. Production of food must be greatly expanded; we now have knowledge of the means by which this can be done. it requires imagination and firm will on the part of each government and people to make use of that knowledge.

4. The first cause of hunger and malnutrition is poverty. It is useless to produce more food unless men and nations provide the markets to absorb it. There must be an expansion of the whole world economy to provide the purchasing power sufficient to maintain an adequate diet for all. With full employment in all countries, enlarged industrial production. The absence of exploitation, an increasing flow of trade within and between countries, an orderly management of domestic and international investment and currencies, and sustained internal and international economic equilibrium, the food which is produced can be made available to all people.

5. The primary responsibility lies with each nation for seeing that its own people have the food needed for life and health; steps to this end are for national determination. But each nation can fully achieve its goal only if all work together.

6. We commend to our respective governments and authorities the study amid adoption of the findings and recommendations of this Conference, and urge the early concerted discussion of the related problems falling outside the scope of this Conference

7. The first steps toward freedom from want of food must not await the final solution of all other problems. Each advance made in one field will strengthen and quicken advance in all others. Work already begun must he continued. Once the war has been won decisive steps can be taken. We must make ready now.