The end of the lightning war's illusion and the subsequent continuation of the conflict eventually obliged the belligerents to spread their actions more widely to the nutritional sector too, so as to improve the resources submitted to a steadily increasing demand.

The army, for instance, needed more than two hundred fifty million gr. of meat in 1916, grown up to three hundred million gr. in 1917. Such figures were integrated with frozen meat and imported canned meat, fat and salted meat.

From such few data it's easy to deduce how hard were the efforts required to continue the nutritional efficiency of a mass army.

At this stage, in addition to the afore-said efforts, was to be guaranteed the livelihood of the civil population, also involved in the war sacrifice through their work in industrial or in agricultural premises. A reflection limited to the only army, indeed, would be deceptive, as in a 'total' war both the military and the inside front were strictly connected and interdependent.

The conflict deeply affected both the food industry and the agriculture, which was at that time the main national productive sector.

Call to arms deprived the fields of most of the labor force which, besides the female work, was replaced by the engines, chiefly imported: their use allowed, for instance, to cultivate millions of acres of land, otherwise impossible to grow. A massive use of chemical fertilizers, along with the general mechanization, improved and increased the production to face the Country's growing needs. The canning industry developed in the field of food industry at a very large extent. As far as concerned the meat supply, for instance, the use of fresh cattle slaughtering, resulted to be not always possible, since neither the national zoo-technical heritage could be impoverished nor, from a logistic point of view, could such a process be managed. Frozen meat imported from Latin America, along with cans produced in the various military meat factories, rather than those spread around the Country, were therefore a very determinant factor. The military factories produced about 113 million cans in addition to another 62 million produced by national private industries.