Food Wastage By Transport Delays
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THE great importance of trowing more food is being drummed into the Nation from hoardings, from the cinema screens and by the newspapers, so that it comes as something of a shock to find that those most important items of produce, fruit and vegetables, aie being wasted in considerable quantities as a direct consequence of the reduction in the supplies of fuel and the official demand that everything possible should be sent by rail.
It is our view, and that of many carriers, that to this diversion to an essentially slower means for transport can be attributed the considerahle losses, both financial and of vital foodstuffs, which are now %curling. No one can complain at the railways being called upon to handle non-perishable goods which do not require expeditious delivery, but the producers who supply the markets are most seriously perturbed at what is now happening. Deliveries which would take only a few hours by road may take up to five days by rail, with the result" that not only are markets missed but the produce, in many .cases, arrives unfit for consumption and, in some instances, seriously depleted by theft.
It is useless to blame the railways, for they are too huge and too fully occupied to give elasticity of service. Only road transport can provide the facilities so vitally necessaiy, and to save the Nation's food it must not be cut down so drastically as to render it inefficient.