In World War II, food became a weapon. This metamorphosis was at the center of the US propaganda film Food and Magic. The film follows a trick-performing magician who teaches an audience about the new significance and transformations of American food from plow to table. While the magician praised farmers – and the new workers on farms – for creating abundance, he also stressed that food was a limited resource, one that was constantly being wasted. The magician shrank a tomato, telling the audience, “by waste … we’ve shrunk our available food supply … that’s like throwing victory into the garbage can.” The film promised hope, though, if Americans could learn to conserve food. As the film concludes, “Food fights for freedom … it is the weapon in our hands at home.”1