The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

[This column has emendations. View original version]

      

WASHINGTON, Sunday—Last night was the closing session of the assembly organized by the United States Committee of the International Student Service. It was a very moving meeting. The declaration which was drafted by the young people and their determination to keep a committee together to work in peace as well as in war, with all the various countries represented, shows a faith and hope in the future which only youth can have.

I am sure that every one of the older generation said a fervent prayer last night that, out of this meeting of young minds, out of their struggles to find a common ground on which they could unite, there would come a strength and determination for future work which would mean much to the peace of the world.

The International Student Service is concerned primarily with the intellectual groups, but these intellectual groups have much to gain from all of the other youth groups in their nations and in the world. The practical experience of boys and girls at work in mines or factories, or on the farms, may make a contribution to the students. Education will provide better leadership, but it is not the only thing needed to build a better civilization for the future. In saying goodbye to the delegates at the assembly, I want to wish them well from the bottom of my heart.

The other day I saw an appeal in a newspaper that we, who may have old furs, coats, jackets and scarfs, turn them in to the "Fur Vest Project Workroom" in New York City, so that they may be made into warm vests for our Merchant Marine sailors. The work on them will be donated by the workers in the industry. I am sure that those who have furs to give, will be very glad to do so.

I have a most interesting letter from some food sales consultants, who make the point that if we are going to improve the nutrition of the country while the cost of living is going up, we must find ways of saving. They enclose a series of suggestions stating that there is practically no household in the country whose kitchen could not make savings which will amount to a great deal in the aggregate. I quote here one paragraph, which struck me as particularly interesting and made me want to investigate my own kitchen at once.

"'What' is waste, 'where' is it, and 'how' can we put a stop to it? Waste is the withered potato lying in the bottom of the bag, multiplied by millions of other potatoes all over the country. Waste is the tired-out box of crackers reposing on my pantry shelf and that of my neighbor. These may sound like trivial examples, but the sum total of such minor wasteful habits from Maine to California have expanded our national 'waste-line' until it is around our necks and choking us out of $3,500,000,000 food dollars each year."

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1942, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Washington (D.C., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, September 7, 1942

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | WorldCat | DPLA | Wikidata | SNAC ]

Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
    [ ISNI ]
  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ISNI ]
  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]

Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

XML master last modified on June 9, 2017.

HTML version generated and published on May 3, 2022.

Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
TMs, AERP, FDRL