Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
Our long-range agricultural policies should have two main objectives:
First, to assure the people on the farms a fair share of the national
income; and, second, to encourage an agricultural production pattern that
is best fitted to the Nation's needs. To accomplish this second objective
we shall have to take into consideration changes that have taken place and
will continue to take place in the production of farm commodities--changes
that affect costs and efficiency and volume.
What we seek ultimately is a high level of food production and consumption
that will provide good nutrition for everyone. This cannot be accomplished
by agriculture alone. We can be certain of our capacity to produce food,
but we have often failed to distribute it as well as we should and to see
that our people can afford to buy it. The way to get good nutrition for the
whole Nation is to provide employment opportunities and purchasing power
for all groups that will enable them to buy full diets at market prices.
Wherever purchasing power fails to reach this level we should see that they
have some means of getting adequate food at prices in line with their
ability to buy. Therefore, we should have available supplementary programs
that will enable all our people to have enough of the right kind of food.
For example, one of the best possible contributions toward building a
stronger, healthier Nation would be a permanent school-lunch program on a
scale adequate to assure every school child a good lunch at noon. The
Congress, of course, has recognized this need for a continuing school-lunch
program and legislation to that effect has been introduced and hearings
held. The plan contemplates the attainment of this objective with a minimum
of Federal expenditures. I hope that the legislation will be enacted in
time for a permanent program to start with the beginning of the school year
next fall.
We have the technical knowledge and the productive capacity to provide
plenty of good food for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
It is time we made that possibility a reality.
(g) Resource development.
The strength of our Nation and the welfare of the people rest upon the
natural resources of the country. We have learned that proper conservation
of our lands, including our forests and minerals, and wise management of
our waters will add immensely to our national wealth.
The first step in the Government's conservation program must be to find out
just what are our basic resources, and how they should be used. We need to
take, as soon as possible, an inventory of the lands, the minerals, and the
forests of the Nation.
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