Foods and household management

We may not pay cash always for the labor, but it must be accounted for in time and energy. The woman who says, "My time doesn't count," has a poor opinion of herself. Whether or not it is better to buy cooked food or to prepare food at home is discussed on page 292. Other elements in food prices. — So far we have considered those causes of food prices that are what may be called " natural," always to be taken into account, and only partly under our control. There are others that have to do with big business methods and interests and that have great influence at some one period in a nation's life, and less at others. They are more or less under our control if we have the wisdom and courage to act. A discussion of these causes is part of the study of economics proper, and we can only stop by the way to think of them for a moment. Transportation must always increase cost, as we have learned, but bad methods, involving the handling of food by many people, increase it unnecessarily. Our present methods of marketing food are clumsy, and not economical, especially in large cities. The subject is being seriously studied with a view to improvement, possibly by the establishment of public markets. At present we have a bewildering state of things, but the housekeeper who sincerely desires, can learn to buy and prepare the less costly foods in an appetizing way, and leave nothing for the garbage pail but the parts that are actually not eatable. Comparative costs. — It would be useless to print here a list of actual prices, since they vary in different localities, and are constantly changing. This list can be made by yourselves in your notebooks for your own home town, and for the current year. The table on page 317 is a guide, however, for in spite of fluctuations in prices there are certain foods that are permanently more economical than others ; for example, grain products than meats, for reasons already explained. As a rule, the rising cost of food has been so general as not to change greatly the relative economy of the different types of food ss compared with each other. Cost and nutritive value. — The discussion of cost has dealt so far with the cost of food materials as they are found in the market. What we are really seeking to learn is the amount of nutritive material to be obtained for a given sum of money, and in order to do this, we must think of our purchases in terms of the foodstuffs and their values. The accompanying table from a government bulletin ^ gives an estimate of cost from this point of view in terms of protein and fuel value. Notice that wheat bread is a cheap food, standing first in the amount of building material and energy. Amounts of Protein and Energy Obtained for 10 Cents Expended for Bread and Other Foods at Certain Assumed Prices Per Pound Food Matkbials Wheat bread Cheese .... Beef, average Porterhouse steak Dried beef . . Eggs .... Milk .... Potatoes . . . Apples . . . Pbics 5 cents 22 cents 20 cents 25 cents 25 cents 24 cents 9 cents 60 cents IJ cents per lb. per lb. per lb. per lb. per lb. per lb. per qt. per bu. per lb. 10 Cents WELL But Ounces 32.0 7.3 8.0 6.4 6.4 10.0 38.3 160.0 106.7 10 Cents' Wobth WILL Contain Protein Ounces 2.9 1.9 1.2 1.3 .1 1.3 1.2