1944 (Nov)-1945

Year-long starvation experiment conducted by Ancel Keyes at University of Minnesota with 36 conscientious objectors who were members of CPS (Civilian Public Service) created by the Selective Service Act of 1940 (41): 3-month control phase followed by 6-months of starvation with each man’s diet cut roughly in half; then 3-month rehabilitation period: “The point, after all, was not to learn how to starve people, it was to learn how to rehabilitate them” (Tucker, 37). Many volunteers came from the Historic Peace Churches (Brethren, Friends, Mennonites)(43-45). Study was conducted at Keys’ Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene– the subground level of the football stadium. The volunteers were sold on the experiment as a means “to acquire basic knowledge on how to achieve the highest food relief with fixed and obviously inadequate food resources” (Keyes, 83). Participants lost 25% of their body weight by end of starvation period.