Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
"Food fights for freedom!!!", 1943 US cartoon: A farmer in overalls and a straw hat holds a large basket of vegetables

"Food fights for freedom!!!"

A farmer in overalls and a straw hat holds a large basket of vegetables, with bombers overhead and a farm behind him; the text reads 'Produce and Conserve' and 'Share and Play Square'. The tell is plain folks and glittering generalities: an ordinary farmer and the word 'freedom' frame food production as a war duty.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Glittering generalitiesPlain folks
Date
1943
Period
Second World War
Made by
Office of War Information (cartoon artwork; artist Charles Alston)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Cartoon
Issuer type
State
Regime
Roosevelt Administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, Economy and finance, Race and ethnicity
Event
World War II
Regime
Roosevelt administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 208, Cartoons Promoting the War Effort (NAID 535594), retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 208, 208-COM-97 (NAID 535638).

Text on the object

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

PRODUCE AND CONSERVE

SHARE AND PLAY SQUARE

"FOOD FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM!!!"

Alston OWI

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