National Committee on Food for the Small Democracies Collected Records

At the outbreak of World War II, the potential for food shortages in five democracies (Belgium, Norway, Poland, Holland and Finland) whose combined population in 1940 was about 37 million, of which 15 million were children, presented a moral challenge to America. With former President Herbert Hoover as spokesperson and honorary chairman of the National Committee on Food for the Small Democracies, efforts were focused on swaying public opinion toward the necessity of food shipments to those countries, despite their being under German control. Critics of the plan contended that all food shipped abroad to occupied countries would further the German cause, and draw the U.S. into the conflict. The Committee's offices were in New York City.