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

“India’s third 5-year plan just drawn up envisages an
increase in vegetable oil consumption from 0.36 ounces to
0.47 ounces daily [per person]. This would mean an
increased annual requirement of over 500,000 tons of
vegetable oils for edible purposes alone, assuming that the
Indian population will total 490 million by the end of the
third plan.”
“India has made its first purchase of U.S. soybean oil–
3,000 metric tons of crude degummed soybean oil under
P.L. 480 from North American Continental Co. in late
March. The purchase was the culmination of several years’
negotiations by the Soybean Council in cooperation with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. First shipment was made
Apr. 12 and consigned to 22 vanaspati manufacturers in
India.” Address: India Office, Soybean Council of America.
156. Meals for Millions Newsletter, Summer 1961. 1961.
California: Meals for Millions. 4 p. *
• Summary: This was probably a periodical newsletter.
However only one known issue remains–in the Helen C.
Abell Collection at the University of Guelph, Ontario,
Canada. It is boxed with XA1 MS A040119. Address:
California.
157. Life.1961. A $700 prefabricated job to put up in four
hours. 51(11):104. Sept. 15.
• Summary: The Kelsey-Hayes Company of Detroit,
Michigan, is turning out 5,000 prefabricated fallout shelters
a month.
The caption to one of the photos reads: “Catalogue of
equipment. Accessories for the use in fallout shelters
include: at top, air-blower ($74) and filter ($55); center, 14day
supply of Multi-Purpose Food, water and vitamins
($8.98);...” The photo shows MPF in large and small cans.
158. Soybean Digest.1961. MPF is offered dairy distribution
[for home bomb shelters and survival kits in case of nuclear
war]. Oct. p. 8.
• Summary: “A surge in consumer interest resulting from
increased [Cold War] political tensions has prompted
General Mills to make available its emergency food, MPF
(Multi-Purpose Food), to American dairies for route
distribution to homes wishing to stock home shelter areas
[bomb shelters].
“Civil Defense authorities have recommended that
everyone have a 2-week food supply in his home shelter
area–and a 3-day survival kit in his automobile in case
evacuation is necessary.”
159. Creed, Arline. 1961. “Magic food” brings hope to the
starving. Los Angeles Examiner. Nov. 3. Section 2. p. CCC
1, 3. Friday.
• Summary: In the Peruvian jungle, in the village of
Pucallpa, stands the remote and hardly adequate hospital of
MEALS FOR MILLIONS, SOY, AND FREEDOM FROM HUNGER 68
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2011
Dr. Theodore Binder. Natives travel hundreds of miles for
his medicines. And with it, they get the best medicine of all–
food–to counter their greatest enemy, malnutrition. “This
Friendship Food comes to them as a gift from the American
people through the efforts of the non-profit Meals for
Millions Foundation.” Their goal is the abolition of
starvation.
“Dr. Albert Schweitzer was so impressed with the
purpose and effectiveness of this group that he agreed to
serve on its International Advisory Board.”
Tells the story of how Clifford Clinton worked with Dr.
Henry Borsook of Cal Tech to develop multi-purpose food,
starting with a $5,000 check and a staggering assignment:
“He wanted a high protein food that would be
inexpensive to produce, simple to prepare, require no
refrigeration, cost little to ship, serve as a meal in itself but
be useful as a supplement to any native diet, contain no
ingredients which might violate religious or racial taboos–
and to top it all, it must taste good.”
Dr. Borsook, in less than a year of laboratory research,
came up with the answer. “In searching for a base for this
food, Dr. Borsook found margarine manufacturers had no
further use for soybeans after extracting the oil. The residue
[defatted soybean meal or cake], available in tremendous
quantities, was being sold for animal feed or fertilizer.” It
had a high protein content and he fortified it with essential
vitamins and minerals.
“Unable to interest a war-preoccupied government in
his project, Clinton brought in Florence Rose, Brooklyn
social worker, and Ernest R. Chamberlain, attorney and
former newspaperman.” They sat down together at a table in
the basement of his cafeteria. “This was the beginning of
the Meals for Millions Foundation and its letterhead then, as
now, carried the words ‘...for the relief and prevention of
starvation.’”
Photos show: (1) Dr. Theodore Binder with a young
patient. (2) A sick, hungry Peruvian mother holding her
young daughter. Address: Los Angeles, California.
160. Chamberlain, Ernest R. 1961. More pennies for meals
(Letter to the editor). Rotarian (The) 99(5):8. Nov.
• Summary: “Among those who were inspired to do
something as a result of reading Meals for Millions by Hugh
M. Tiner [The Rotarian for May, 1960], was Benjamin P.
Freeman, Chairman of the International Service Committee
of the Rotary Club of Brewster, New York. Every three
months he sends us a check for from $30 to $50, gathered at
Club meetings by ‘appropriating’ all pennies in the pockets
of the 28 members of the Rotary Club of Brewster. Recently
he decided to drive to Los Angeles and combine a vacation
with a visit to our office and deliver a big can of pennies in
person, and also find out a bit more about Meals for
Millions.