During WWI there was shortage of food for the people of war-torn Europe. Prior to the United States entry into the war, we were already the largest provider of wheat and meat for the Allied nations. Future president Herbert Hoover led the United States’ involvement in the food relief effort for Belgium and was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to head the newly formed U.S. Food Administration. August 10 is the 100th anniversary of the formation of the U.S. Food Administration, and our latest Google Arts & Culture Exhibit “Food for Fighting” explores how poster art encouraged food conservation on the home front and led to lasting changes in the American diet in the century that followed.
-Dana Puga, Prints & Photographs Collection Specialist