§ 16 and 17. Colonel Ropnerasked the Minister of Food (1) what food will be purchased from Canada with the dollars earmarked for the purchase of bacon which Canada is unable to supply; and whether as a consequence, new orders will be placed for Canadian applies;
(2) whether, in view of the shortage of bacon in Canada, he proposes to make good the deficiency by increased purchases from other countries.
§ Mr. StracheyAs I explained to the House last Monday, 1st November, the shortfall in Canadian and other bacon shipments is, we hope, a purely temporary affair, and it is expected that all the Marshall dollars earmarked for the purchase of Canadian bacon will be required to pay for shipments during the year ending next June. We are, of course, making the most strenuous efforts to increase shipments from all supplying countries, but I am afraid that it will be impossible to avoid an interruption in the ration for a short' time. For four weeks from 21st November, therefore, the bacon ration will be 2 oz. per fortnight instead of 2 oz. per week. We shall, however, make up for this by issuing an extra 2d. worth of corned meat on the meat ration in the two alternate weeks beginning 21st November and 5th December.
The bacon ration will revert to 2 oz. per week on 19th December and from then onwards its level will very largely depend upon the rate of Canadian shipments.