Causes At the beginning of the Civil War, there was a huge concern of the soldiers starving. There were two million soldiers to feed. They didn't have their wives or slaves there to cook, nobody had any experience with cooking. They needed food that could last for long periods of time and food that would fill the soldiers. There was also a need to have sanitary food, pots, pans and plates for the soldiers to use because of these concerns the United States Sanitary Committee created.