Cardinal Mercier Has Appealed to the Food Administration for More Food for Starving Millions

A stylised head-and-shoulders portrait of an older man in red cardinal's dress sits above text saying Cardinal Mercier has appealed to the Food Administration for food for starving millions. It asks Americans to eat less wheat, meat, fats and sugar and to ship more to France, Belgium and Italy. The tell is the named church figure as the source of the request, backed by the image of famine abroad.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Testimonial Fear appeal

Date: 1918
Period: First World War
Made by: U.S. Food Administration
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Wilson Administration
Leader: Woodrow Wilson
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes: Home front, Religion
Event: World War I
Regime: Wilson administration
Leader: Woodrow Wilson
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights: NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
U.S. Food Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-141.

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

Cardinal MERCIER
has appealed to the
Food Administration
for more food for
starving millions.
Eat less wheat- meat-
fats and sugar. Ship
more to the war-stricken
people of
FRANCE - BELGIUM - ITALY

ILLION
LATHAM LITHO & MFG. CO. BROOKLYN [imprint, lower right, very small; partly legible]

'Eat less wheat- meat- fats and sugar.' is printed in red italic. Hyphens follow the printed layout. The imprint at lower right is very small and only partly legible.