Primary Source: Joining a 4-H Club

This “Join the 4H Club in the Food for Freedom Fight” letter transcribed below was given to boys and girls from the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service’s campaign in 1944 to recruit new members and educate them about the organization's purposes. 


This is your war

That you and future generations may enjoy Freedom and Justice we are fighting this war. While men give their lives on the battlefield, those of us on the farm must see to it that they have the necessary food to fight the war; to defend and preserve the America we enjoy.

During 1944 the 4-H program will stress those activities which will aid most in the war effort. Every farm boy and girl in North Carolina should join in the Feed A Fighter for Freedom program in Forty-Four.

Here's how you can help!

  1. Join a 4-H Club.
  2. Take an active part in 4-H Club meetings.
  3. Consult Neighborhood Leader for help.
  4. Participate in special 4-H activies, such as, Church Sunday, 4-H Achievement Day, 4-H Camp, Health Program.
  5. Maintain morale on the home front. Preserve for our soldiers when they return something of the kind of an America they left to defend.

Produce and conserve food

  1. Select a project you can and will carry through to completion.
  2. Select your project early and begin work on it.
  3. Increase the size of projects.
  4. Conserve all the food possible.
  5. Keep accurate records to determine best methods.
  6. Secure new members.

Contribute to the war effort

  1. Do your part in salvage collections.
  2. Put all your cash profits in War Bonds and Stamps -- more, if possible.
  3. Cooperate with Red Cross, Civilian Defense and other war agencies.
  4. Write letters to friends in the Armed Service.
  5. Participate in all worthy community activities.

Feed a Fighter in '44

Here's How: Any one of the following is the equivalent of the total amount of food required to feed a man in the Armed Service for one year.

Check the one you will do; tear off this sheet and mail or hand it to your farm or home agent for information and instructions as to how best to do the job.

  • Conduct a meat animal project which will produce 1300 lbs. of meat. Either of the following should be sufficient:
    • Feed 2 Baby Beef Animals
    • Feed 6 Pigs
    • Feed 16 Lambs
  • Grow 300 broilers to 2½ lbs., or a total of 750 lbs.
  • Care for 50 hens that will produce 470 dozen eggs.
  • Feed and handle one milk cow which will produce 5500 lbs. of milk.
  • Grow 113 bushels of corn.
  • Grow 110 bushels of tomatoes.
  • Grow 135 bushels of sweet potatoes.
  • Grow 135 bushels of Irish potatoes.
  • Produce 270 gallons of cane syrup.
  • Grow one acre of mixed vegetables.
  • Can 500 quarts of vegetables.
  • Name _______________________________________
  • Address ____________________________________

Our men in the armed services must have

  • Fresh Vegetables
  • Canned Food
  • Potatoes
  • Poultry
  • Bread
  • Meat
  • Milk
  • Eggs

YOU CAN HELP TO SUPPLY THESE AND THE MANY OTHER FOODS NECESSARY FOR VICTORY.

 

Credit text

North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service, "Join the 4H Club in the Food for Freedom Fight" (1944). Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries.