Estimated Number of Days' Supply of Food and Beverages in Retail Stores, 1962: A Civil Defense Study

Excerpts from the report: In early 1962 the Office of Civil Defense requested that the Department of Agriculture revise estimates of food and beverage inventories in retail food stores to provide more timely, realistic, and usable information for civil defense planning. Estimates were to be made in accord with the 1960 Census of Population. Food and beverage stocks were to be measured in respect to their feeding capabilities under emergency conditions. Daily requirements of 2,000 calories of food and 32 ounces of liquids per person were specified. These specifications are somewhat lower than those used in the earlier edition of this report, issued November 1958, where daily requirements were given as 3,000 calories for food and 56 ounces for fluids. The new and lower specifications used in this report are believed to be more realistic short-term levels of food and beverage consumption in an emergency. In addition, it was requested that inventory data be tabulated for each of eight civil defense regions so as to permit more realistic planning of emergency feeding programs on a regional basis