history of meals for millions, soy, and freedom from ... - SoyInfo Center

low in fat and high in protein... The multi-purpose meal, or
MPM, is simple to prepare. All that’s needed is a kettle,
water and the fire to boil it...”
“Two firms now manufacturing MPM are F.W. Boltz
Corp., 3614 Council St., Los Angeles, California, and C.B.
Gentry Co., 837 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. Note: Neither
of these first two articles mention Meals for Millions
Foundation (the developer and marketer of MPM) which
was established in 1946.
Three photos show three different sides of an early 1¼
lb. can. The front panel reads: “Ten or more servings. Two
ounces dry weight of MPF provide 1/3 of the minimum
daily requirements for an adult man as established by the
Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council
and the U.S. Pure Food and Drug Administration, for
Protein, Calcium, Iron, Vitamins A, B-1, Riboflavin (B-2),
Niacinamide and D. It approximates the nutritional value of
a meal of beef, green peas, milk and potatoes.
“Keep tightly covered in a cool dry place.”
A second panel, “To cook MPF,” gives recipes for using
it as a Meal, a Soup, a Food Extender (for stew, casserole or
baked dishes, leaves or patties), a Stuffing. “The Meals for
Millions Foundation invites recipes or suggestions for other
uses of MPF.”
A third panel explains briefly the advantages of Multi-
Purpose Food: Nutritious. Fortified. Satisfying.
Concentrated. Convenient, Adaptable. Acceptable. Versatile.
Inexpensive. “Multi-Purpose Food, based on a formula
developed by the California Institute of Technology, is made
available by the Meals for Millions Foundation, a non-profit
corporation for the prevention of starvation. The Foundation
cooperates with relief agencies in making MPF widely
available. It is the gift of friends in America eager to help
their fellow-men wherever there is need to supplement
inadequate diets. It is partial payment on the debt which
men owe to one another and to God.”
25. Age (The) (Melbourne, Australia).1945. Pay what you
wish: Golden Rule business a remarkable restaurant. Feb. 3.
p. 4. [1 ref]
• Summary: “From our Special Correspondent in Los
Angeles. ‘Pay what you wish’ is the slogan of Clifton’s
Pacific Seas Cafeteria in Los Angeles, California, one of the
most remarkable restaurants in the world. Designed to give
a South Sea Island Effect, the exterior is constructed of
imitation boulders, palms and waterfalls.”
The food here “is sensationally cheap. Whatever
amount your meal check says, however, you may pay
exactly what you think the food is worth–or pay nothing at
all. On every check the statement appears. ‘Regardless of
the amount of this check our cashier will cheerfully accept
whatever you wish to pay–or you may dine free.’ It is
merely an estimate based on experience, designed to
MEALS FOR MILLIONS, SOY, AND FREEDOM FROM HUNGER 24
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produce the lowest margin of profit on which the cafeteria
can be continued.”
“If you have a birthday, a free birthday cake and a
decorated table await you... Last year 11,000 birthday cakes
were presented.”
“Benefits to employees include recreation, shower, rest
and game rooms, group insurance, medical examinations,
complete medical or surgical service [insurance] and
prescribed medicines without cost; a schedule of sick pay;
hospitalization and convalescence at the Hollywood home
of the owner, bonus participation and exceptional bonuses
in cases of unusual necessity; co-operation in athletic, social
and choral activities. Mr. Clinton’s home with its fine
swimming pool, his cabins at Lake Arrowhead and Santa
Cruz are at the disposal of employees for parties, weddings,
vacations and illness. There is also a civic centre at Pacific
Seas, the head quarters of the Civic Committee, of which
Mr. Clinton is chairman.” The committee keeps an eye out
for corruption and waste in Los Angeles’ government.
A large photo shows Australian and American
servicemen in Clinton’s Pacific Seas Cafeteria.
26. United Press. 1945. Mayor Bowron is re-elected.
Oxnard Press-Courier (Southern California). April 5. p. 6.
• Summary: Los Angeles–Mayor Fletcher Bowron won
another 4 years in office today. “A slow second was
cafeteria owner Clifford Clinton, at one time the mayor’s
chief political backer who conceded his defeat in a message
pledging ‘to continue to help make Los Angeles a finer city.’
Late returns gave Clinton 22,181 votes,” about 10,000
behind Bowron.
27. Business Week.1945. Meal in one: United Nations
delegates try precooked, dehydrated dish that may be
widely used to feed liberated peoples of Europe. May 12. p.
22, 24.
• Summary: Vitameal [Vita-Meal] is on the menu of
Clinton’s Cafeteria in Los Angeles, and (starting last week)
on the menu of the United Nations Conference cafeteria
located in the Opera House in San Francisco, where it is a
sort of mystery food–a stew today, a soup tomorrow, and an
entree the next day.
Dr. Henry Borsook, professor of biochemistry at the
California Institute of Technology, developed the new food,
and referred to it as a “multipurpose meal.” He considers it
to be far superior to other dehydrated foods in palatability,
nutritional value, ease of preparation, and versatility. It can
be used as a food extender, a food supplement, and in many
other ways.
To prepare it: Add enough water and cook for half an
hour. You can add a bit of fat for taste plus some calories
[such as rice] to make a real meal. Dr. Borsook realized that
if it passed the taste test with the U.N. representatives of the
liberated countries, it would be accepted for their people.