“An unusually important role” for Palestine after the war is foreseen by Albert Van den Bergh, one of Britain’s authorities on the production and distribution of food supplies.
“One of the remarkable things that we may see after our victory in the war, is the emergence of Palestine as a great food-growing country,” Mr. Van den Bergh said in a statement to the press. “Countries are being overrun by the hordes of Hitler. Food crops are being destroyed. Fields are lying untilled. Food-giving animals are being slaughtered in vast numbers through lack of feeding-stuffs. All this will mean hunger, perhaps starvation for millions of people after the war.
“Strangely enough, precisely the opposite process is now taking place in Palestine. Forty-four percent of Palestine wheat is now home-grown. Today Palestine produces 98 percent of her vegetables and 92 per cent of her milk. If the process continues, a stage will be reached where Palestine may be able to export food to Europe,” Mr. Van den Bergh stated.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
