1919 - Food Availability

Food Availability

U.S. food prices remain far above 1914 levels. Milk is 15¢/qt., up from 9¢; sirloin steak 61¢/lb., up from 32¢, fresh eggs 62¢/doz., up from 34¢.

Belgian food prices drop by 50 percent, British by 25 percent, but prices remain high elsewhere in Europe. German ports are blockaded until July 12.

French beef, mutton, pork, and veal prices have increased nearly sixfold since 1914, reports Le Petit Journal, and egg, cheese, and butter prices have increased fourfold. France removes restrictions on the sale of beans, peas, rice, eggs, and condensed milk, and then on bread, but while the wartime ban on sugar imports is lifted, the import duty on sugar is raised to almost prohibitive levels.

Eastern Europe has famine as a result of poor crops and the shortage of manpower. Vienna cuts bread rations to four ounces per week in late December.