ABSTRACT
In October 1916 an executive commission was set up to secure supplies of wheat; but it was June of the following year before there began, with the appointment of Lord Rhondda as Controller, what has been called the 'heroic age of food control'. The appointment of Lord Devon-port as the first Food Controller in October 1916 had more or less been forced upon the government by the pressure, but his unambitious plans had not stopped the steady rise. In the case of a number of essential foods-including bread and flour, meat and canned meat, sugar, tea, cheese, margarine, dried fruits, condensed milk, imported bacon and imported butter-the Ministry of Food controlled prices throughout, acting as the importer in the first place or buying from the producer or manufacturer. When Lord Rhondda took the post of Food Controller he found already drawn up a scheme of sugar distribution which he operated without any substantial changes.
