The President Says: Hunger Does Not Breed Reform; It Breeds Madness (America's Food Pledge, 20 Million Tons)
A framed portrait of President Wilson sits above a quotation about hunger, reform and 'the true friends of mankind', with a seal reading 'America's food pledge 20 million tons' and the slogan 'Save Food, Don't Waste It.' The tell is the borrowed authority of the head of state's own words, attached to a household conservation request through a shipment target.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- 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, Economy and finance
- 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-98.
Text on the object
The PRESIDENT says "Hunger does not breed reform; it breeds madness and all the ugly distemper that makes an ordered life impossible .......The future belongs to those who prove themselves the true friends of mankind" America's food pledge 20 million tons Save Food Don't Waste It UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION [artist's signature on portrait, partly legible: ADOLPH / TREIDLER] HE. STRASSER & VOIGT LITHO. CO. [imprint, lower right, very faint and partly legible]
The imprint at bottom right is very faint and only partly legible (it appears to read as the Heywood Strasser & Voigt Litho. Co. line); a small boxed 'D' mark sits at the portrait's lower right corner.
