True food values and their low costs

It is a difficult matter to make people eat according to a set rule, particularly if the food does not happen to be just what the individual may wish for at the time; but introducing the element of cost, together with the actual efficiencyof each article on the bill of fare, cannc help but create a favorable impression. The wise choice of food in relation to healt can hardly fail to interest the ordinary man, an when it is shown, in black and white, with matht matical precision, how such a choice will reduc the cost of living, we are more than likely t find ourselves looking on it with favor. CHAPTER V Nearly Half a Man's Wages Goes for Food According to recent investigations by the United States Bureau of Labor more than forty per cent, of the income of the average workingman's family is expended for food. The claim is made after inquiry into the conditions prevaihng in two thousand seven hundred famihes in twenty-four different States. The mere fact that the average workingman spends so much of his income in such a manner, when he could get the same amount of nourishment, or even more, at a much lower cost, is pitiful and appalling. Another fact brought forward in the investigation referred to is that the more intelligent and well-to-do the housekeepers are, the more economical they are in the purchase of food supplies. Many a mechanic's wife insists upon having the best sirloin steak, while the wife of a man who has many times the income of the mechanic may be satisfied with the cheaper cuts. It is a singular fact, especially pertaining to mcars of &1I kinds, that the price per pound has little, if any. relation to the nutritive value, A ixjund of steak costing fifty cents contains no more niitriti\-e elcnients than a pound of a cheaper cut costing half the amount ; and if the latter is intelligently cxx>ked, it will be quite as appetizing and equally cffcctiw. The report also shows that the average American mechanic is a great meat consumer, perhaps too great a one. and this may accoimt for the large percentage of income expended for food. Wilh the .American mechanic alive to the evils of a too-much-nieat diet and the economical methods of preparing the tasty and edible cereals, vegetables, and lentils, the percentage of income expended for food may be greatly reduced, also the percentage now spent on physicians' and drug bills, and a corresponding increase in health and longevity result. Not long ago experiments were made by the Boston Science School along the line of cheap living. From these investigations it was shown that it was possible to live comfortably, if not luxuriously, on sixty-seven cents a day. Meals were prepared for twenty-two cents, and, what is more to the point, eaten with apparent relish by unbiased persons. i Dy unoiasei d In addition, the chemical constituents in the food were carefully weighed and measured, and it was found that a sufficient amount of proteids, fats, and carbohydrates existed in the twentytwo-cent meal to support men working with the customary expenditure of force. The meal, as planned, was afterwards served by Dean Russell, of Columbia University, who gave it to a party of six of his friends. The teachers in the department of domestic science laid out the program and the students did the cooking. The cost of materials was two dollars and two cents, from which was deducted the value of the food not actually consumed. This brought the total cost down to one dollar and twenty-eight cents for six people. The menu and prices follow ; Grapefruit $0.26 Baked haddock 58 Hollandaise sauce 10 Potatoes on the half-shell 13 RoUi 17 Butter .08 Pickles 04 Tea .02 Lettuce 16 Wafers .01 Cheese 10 Pineapple sherbet 2A Angel cake 13