FIRST INTERM REPORT ON THE FRENCH SUBSISTENCE POLICY DURING NOVEMBER DECEMBER 1941 AND JANUARY 1942

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 31
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
Ii T INTO W ON V NCU u T N~ Fo a c DURING NOO N
ANA JAJJ
,
I. gn1t.tiUn:
A census of 1audownere was taken in ordeZ' bo make possible efficient
4r8aflix~tiOn i'on' Z'etorfl uIeaaures, but 6inCe the a11oetion o agricultural
e
items was to be made on the bads of such statistic, it was r@cogn ed
that the figures given would be subJect to exaggeration' A centralized
organization was sat up in order to control production and distribution
o1 food item.
Du? to an incuicient delivery of agricultural produce, the French
govnroment was forc?d to Conti?cate cereal reaurvea and to dra?t a labor
force from leU eoaontial induatrioa Tor: diversion into agriculture
A commiueion waa oatablished to organizc 8 more equitable distribution
of existing reserve8 and to effcct ire rational u t111zation of the
tillable land. De1very quotas Wero act up, and the-ae wore to be
followed strictly in order to alleviate the exieting supply deficiencics,
Besides the 314.7 million hectareu of agricultural 1and, about 3 million
hectares of agriculturally uuablo land and about 18 million hectaree
of sub..marginal land havo been recorded. '
The Ministry of Agriculture drew up the production plan and
decided which agricultural produce could be yielded and which should be
kept in storage. The Office of the Distributor of Food requisitioned
the quantities need for supply, in which case' previously established
rations may have had to be changed. The newly created aooeral Commisaion'
for Agricultural Produce advised the Secretary of the Commission for
Food Supply in the preparation of his plane, consideration of regional
differences haver been noted. The actual dietribution of food eras
exercised through the Commission for Food guyply.
A commission to ` combat the black market was formal
On 30 January l91~l, a law governing exports to foreign countries
was instituted ,r.
50X1-HUM
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
x aAOWOr'd Work i
Workers from the 'itiee were encourhg$d to o into z~ e
~ ng mploy.
Fin~nciul aid was raadared to facilt~te R1ovin`rom the citic.
!o1]vwiag the Ger o node,, findneid1 loan to newtYwede 000
~ ~,
Via,00O fiance) were d gpec el Loans were rovided for th
p e procure,.
meat o' a;griculturai equipment and oeta11at1ona. The few d@a1 with
~ h
h~ procurement off''a labor wac urthar expanded. F'j labor w
as
placed in the category "eucatial to the stut&' which proz
e agricultural
robe oa the one hand, and enabled the shift of non-eeaentia1 Jobho1der~
or un@mploy@d into agricultural work. Youth in the 17.21 age rou
were placed in the agd.cuiture auxiliary u~rvice.
III. ieaauree_o Promote Production, Sot:
The govtirnnient decreed oz 3 December 941 that till agricultural
conutructibn was to be aided in overy way; crodita were to be cased
r
and financial me&na yore, to be available through a ricu..tura1
credit unions,
A committee wac net up to study the rational' utilization of
agricultural machinery. French agriculture was in desperate decd of
farm machinery. Even before the war, there were only 30,000 tractors,
370,000 cowing machines, 500,000 corn cutters, and 122,000 hay-cutters.
~e8idee the dire shortage of ?arm machincc, tbore was alto a chortge
a
of draft animals war caused by the mawf1gats in May, June 1910,
a)
The price of bread hay been raised by 25 centimec. It is necessary
to bring up the price of grain commensurate with the price of other French
products. Otherwise the farmers prefer to shift to the more lucrative
cattle-rajcisg and feedtg. This danger was almost acute in France
. The
farmer can hardly be expected. to sell wheat at 300 francs er daub
p le
centner, while buckwheat (which requiret~ less work acrid ro uires
~, practjcally
no `artificial fertilizer) sells mr 1,00o francs per double-cen
tner.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
A decree o' January )9k2 con ee toe, ail what aid rye + upplioe
not yet turneo to the goverriientTnd delgvery o' bred grnln wne not Katie nctory bec u~e:
1) glow progroee was made in threehin due to tho oticial order
giving the 'oddor' gr hs (barley ands` oate ) priority, cauaing a backlog
in tho productia off' broad grains
2) The rwzor was circulating that tovernent was going to
increauo official prieee for wheat liter one Coz bocp. ?nt1y, wheat was
held back, The government denied this openly, and toad the rmera
that if they did not co~p1y with obligatory deiiverteo by 31 January,
they would ba paid only 270 France por 6oub1e?c?ntner of wheat if
reLjuieitloa by ?orce waa neceeeary
b) 0i1-8eedu and Fibre:
A decrea by to Mirietry.. of Agriculture provided for the establish-
ment of a commission to study increaned production o? oleaginoue plants.
It was a,so charged with the import of oilseedu, Mure to increase
the cultivation of such plants were taken, The cultivation of hemp again
was taken up on a larger scale
c) Vegetbl@s s
Due to the rationing of essential foods, the consumption of
vegetablee in France greatly inereasefso that the supply did not nearly
~~
meet the demand, The exploitation of all available land was ordered,
C that vegetable production` ea~a be upped. A law was passed which made
all suitable land in the outskirts of cities available for the cultivaa
tion of vegetables,
Iv, Press Comments
The French Minister of Agriculture and the Minister, of Food Supply
are worried. The crop is below expectationa,` greatly due to bad weather
during harvest time. The deficiency could be made up if the farmers voa
turning in all hem yield. Too often they holdback grain to feed their
own poultry. The black market is aided by inadequate prices for goods
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
In aerssany, wheat brings 9 (360 francs ), whil@ In 'ranc@ it brinBc
on1Y' 290 t'rdncs, y do h ~t~a '@nc) oti~,1 have pate d@ 0 @ r&?
is the ar bav@ nothing to eat, ohau1d corn be @d to the 6eeeo? The
f~-r r ets only 350 ~r eL broad per Congequenty, he Brie
g
hie own flour even using eofee grinders i'or this purpo@@. If the
bread ration of agricultural workers wera raised, production would
inereace to the long run by millions o doubie?eentaere .
L" oeuvre, i4 Jun 1912
Marseille retained 70 percent at its traffic, which amounts to
only one?cixtb off' the noru1 national traffic. During the fir?t eight
mouths o#' 1941, imports by way of Marael11e aouatod to;
Product i 41 1t000 tong ~. 8 1 O to.:f
.~....~..
Fruito'and v? atab1ea from N Africa 200 180
~
01ea8thous p/ant producta 280 1100
30 16
Coffee
Cacao L0 3
Rice 20 80
(rain flour and cereal products 250 17
Ui,ne 210 90
Sugar 29 90
One should be careful not to draw conclusions about a national increase
in Tod import for France by the few imports found to be increasing in
Marseille now. Marseille is the only port capable of operating. In
peacetime, it handled but one-sixth of the normal French traffic.
Figaro, 30 Jan 1942
Why is 80 little done for 13-year olds? Children of this age belong
to Category ,47M3'theY receive 350 grs ms of bread (instead of 275 grams)
axis 2O gr of chocolate pex month. They no longer get the M1iter of
5
mildr but not one gram more fat, meat, or suga than adults do. Shouldn't
they receive more meat? Let it not be said that there is no meat.. Adults
and old people who are very healthy manage to get a t&L na1 meat rations
SECRE I
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2
preccrlbod b r tb~ir do tort To r~1e? to meet r do oP t1e 1.3
sate or would b'1r a edd to tie mlpr etie~ by come aura to e' ?e111fi8
meat ratloae or txac1in them for other Goode. t 1~ not eaey to
of ow tb~ X10 of tb1e a but the or1 nut bay been checked by two
liD uita , uad tit 1e what it *e~ye;
g
Cr1 du Pouple, i1 Jah 19142
I
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/17 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100140031-2