Food: Buy It with Thought, Cook It with Care (Don't Waste It)
A lettering-only poster lists six numbered household rules for food use, from buying with thought to using what is left, ending in the line 'don't waste it.' It offers no image, enemy or argument, only a short checklist in plain language. The technique tag is the closest honest one: the voice is that of ordinary household practice rather than authority.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1917
- 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
- Theme
- Home front
- 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-154.
Text on the object
food 1- buy it with thought 2- cook it with care 3- use less wheat & meat 4- buy local foods 5- serve just enough 6- use what is left don't waste it U.S. FOOD ADMINISTRATION THE W.F. POWERS CO. LITHO. N.Y. [small mark at lower left, apparently 'No 1', and a small monogram beside 'it': illegible]
