Citrus Fruit During World War II

Excerpts from the Introduction: Citrus fruit constituted a valuable element of the food supply of the United States during World War II. The rapidly expanding domestic production provided substantial supplies of fresh and canned citrus for both civilians and the armed forces. Furthermore, substantial quantities of canned citrus juices were exported under lend-lease. Although various foods became inadequate to meet the greatly expanded wartime demands, thus necessitating allocation among principal classes of users and rationing among civilians, fresh citrus fruit continued generally ample throughout the war. Because of the strong civilian wartime demand and large military requirements for citrus fruits, one record-breaking crop after another was marketed at prices well above prewar levels. For example, the 1944-45 crop brought returns per box to growers from two to five times larger than those for the 1938-39 crop. Although war conditions created a ready market at increased prices for a series of large crops of citrus, they imposed numerous problems relating to production, processing, transportation, disposition, consumption, and pricing. This led the citrus industry to resort to various expediencies and led to numerous Government programs, regulations, and actions, all of which greatly conditioned the citrus industry during wartime. This report gives the results of an examination of the wartime citrus economy.