This book develops a previously unknown aspect of the British Home Front during the Great War, namely how the threat of population starvation was managed by the British Government. To help ameliorate public fears and panic, the Government enlisted the police to help farmers intensify crop production to feed the nation. Around four hundred policemen from England and Scotland responded to requests to plough and plant crops in Spring 1917, and were subsequently released from their police duties. Many had previous agricultural backgrounds, and so were welcomed by farmers as experienced workers. The author identifies the regions where release occurred, describing the particular features of each force. Drawing from the police’s most popular weekly journal, the book provides insights into policemen’s lives, the political context in which they worked, and the pressures on police forces throughout Britain during the Great War. This book illustrates not only why the food crisis arose and the state of British farming during the war, but it also sheds light on how individual police forces were approached and encouraged to release their policemen, at a time when police forces themselves were critically short of staff due to recruitment into the war. The author discusses how the release of policemen into agriculture as first responders benefitted the police and provided surveillance over home food production in the national interest.