Food Conservation

Food was precious and we didn't waste a bit. It would have made your heart ache to have seen grown men actually licking the knife in order not to waste a crumb of bread or a bit of oleo. Some even counted out raisin for raisin so one would not get more than the other. When we were getting 700 calories a day less than starvation diet, everything counted.

I have watched men stand for several minutes after the cutting of the bread before choosing their shares. We drew bread in loaves and enough for each man in the room to have a seventh or a ninth of a loaf, depending on whether we had a large or small supply. We had our rooms broken down to squads and we did everything by squads. My squad leader would draw one loaf of bread from the room leader. Then he would have one of us cut the bread. We even took turns cutting it. The man who cut today drew last and then he drew first the next day. We found that if a man was to cut the bread and then draw last he was very careful how he cut the pieces. When a man's turn came, he would step up and look over the pieces and take the one he wanted. If he touched a piece it was his. Many times I have seen a man lean over a piece of bread and compare it with another for some time before making up his mind. Some criticized others for making comparisons but there wasn't a man that didn't do it.