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Brief Chronology of Meals for Millions, Soy and
Freedom from Hunger
The Meals for Millions Foundation was a pioneer in
introducing the world to the high nutritional value, high
protein content, and low cost of soy from 1946 to 1983.
1900 Aug. 3 – Clifford Edmond Clinton is born in
Berkeley, California, the third of ten children (nine
survived childhood). His parents are both devout Christians
and active in the Salvation Army. They live in Berkeley and
own (and manage) a restaurant named Dennets in San
Francisco.
1905 – Clifford Clinton travels to China (for the first time)
with his missionary parents and 2-3 sisters – they are
supported by their restaurant. They return to California in
1906 to rebuild the restaurant which was destroyed by the
San Francisco earthquake and fire. Clifford was too young
to remember much about this trip (Donald Clinton, Dec.
2010).
1910 – With the family restaurant business again profitable,
the Clinton family (except for little Anna, who stayed home
with Grandma Hall) returns to China, but this time to south
China and the area around Canton. The family works at a
Christian orphanage for the blind. Clifford, age 10, is now
able to understand much more about daily life in China –
and he is deeply moved by what he sees. His job is to go
around each morning to collect the blind baby girls that
have been left outdoors to die (girls are considered more
expendable than boys) and to bring them back to the
orphanage. He also sees the hunger and starvation around
him. After the Boxer Rebellion (1898-1900), it was a time
of chaos and disorder in China, with banditry and
vandalism and all sorts of danger. The family returns to
California in 1912. Clifford makes a boyhood vow that if
he could ever do anything to help hungry people, he would
do it (Donald Clinton, Dec. 2010; Henry Borsook 1979).
1915 – Clifford Clinton leaves high school to work as a
storekeeper in one of his family’s restaurants in San
Francisco; he rose to supervising manager of all six
restaurants by 1925. He eventually becomes one of the
three partners of the Clinton Cafeteria Co. (Kuzins 1984).
1920 Sept. 7 – Clifford Clinton and Nelda Patterson are
married in Berkeley, California. She was his lifelong active
partner and a pillar of strength in all his endeavors (Donald
Clinton, Dec. 2010).
MEALS FOR MILLIONS, SOY, AND FREEDOM FROM HUNGER 7
INTRODUCTION
1931 – Clifford Clinton and with his wife move from San
Francisco to Los Angeles to establish a new kind of
restaurant. Their three children – Edmond (born in 1921),
Jean (1923), and Donald (1926) – follow six months later
(Donald Clinton, Dec. 2010).
1931 July – Clifton’s Cafeteria: The Cafeteria of the Golden
Rule, opens at 618 S. Olive St. in downtown Los Angeles.
As a result of his experience in China, he decides to apply a
principle of “practical Christianity” and never to refuse a
meal to a person who could not afford to pay for it. It soon
became a written policy: “No guest need go hungry for lack
of funds.” Since the Great Depression is beginning to gain
momentum, there are many residents of Los Angeles who
fall into this category. In the first 90 days, 10,000 free meals
are served to those who could not pay (Donald Clinton, Feb.
2011).
1932 Oct. 10 – Clinton opens his Penny Cafeteria in the
basement of a building at Third and Hill Streets –in the
depths of the Depression. About two million meals were fed
there . during the two years that it was open (E.M.S. 1946).
1935 – Clifton’s Brookdale is opened at 7 th and Broadway
(over 40,000 square feet, 5 floors, at 648 South Broadway)
in Los Angeles. Its interior is reminiscent of the California
redwood groves with waterfalls and brooks inside.
1937-1938 – Clifford Clinton is deeply involved in a
campaign to clean up Los Angeles politics (Time magazine,
27 June 1938; Clifton’s Food for Thot, 12 March 1970).
1939 – The first Clifton’s Cafeteria is remodeled on a
tropical island theme and renamed “Clifton’s Pacific Seas.”
1942 Sept. 14 – Article in Time magazine titled “California:
Clinton’s Big Job.” The record number of paid meals served
in one day at his two “fantastic cafeterias” is 26,000. He has
600 employees but he calls them associates. A remarkable
list of employee benefits is given.
1944 Jan. 1 – Clifford Clinton writes Ernest Chamberlain
from Washington D.C. asking him to try find a biochemist
who could (and would) develop a food product which would
provide complete nutrition (protein, vitamins, and minerals)
except for calories / carbohydrates, in a compact form that
would be inexpensive [3-5 cents per serving] – and which
could be added to normal deficient diets without changing
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