Some Sociological Problems in the Work of FAO

Abstract

* Paper read before the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Asbury Park, New Jersey, April 24, I948. agriculture, nutrition, forestry and fisheries, which if properly and effectively applied would make it unnecessary for the world's people to suffer the chronic malnutrition that characterized a large proportion of the world's people before the war. Restoring the so-called normal consumption levels of the prewar years is not enough. For too large a proportion of the world's people, these normal levels have always been no more than various levels of chronic malnutrition. During the years from I935 to 1939, as the first FAO publication revealed, only one-sixth of the world's people lived in countries where the total food supply available at retail was approximately adequate, i.e., 2,750 calories or more per person per day. Another onethird lived in countries where food supplies averaged between 2,250 and 2,750 calories per person per day, a level that would not in the long run maintain health and efficiency. One-half of the world's people lived in countries where the total food supplies averaged less than 2,250 calories per person per day, a grossly inadequate diet. Where levels of calorie supplies were low, our study also revealed, the diets generally showed an excessive dependence on the foods which supply bulk, and inadequate utilization of those which are the better sources of the