20. As in the case of other foods, the purchase of vegetables in the
market requires special knowledge and attention in order that the best
value may be obtained for the money expended. The housewife who has a
limited amount of money to spend for food does not buy wisely when she
purchases vegetables out of season or those which must be shipped long
distances. On the other hand, it will be found that vegetables bought in
season as well as those which are plentiful in the particular locality
in which they are sold, especially if they are perishable vegetables,
are lowest in price and are in the best condition for food. Therefore,
whether the income is limited or not, it is wisdom on the part of the
housewife to buy vegetables that grow in the neighboring region and to
purchase them when they are in season.
21. A very important point for the housewife to keep in mind regarding
the purchase of vegetables is that their price is determined not by
their value as food, but by their scarcity and the demand for them.
Take, for example, the case of mushrooms. As shown in Table I, this
vegetable is low in food value, containing only 210 calories to the
pound, but, if purchased, they are always an expensive food. The high
price asked for mushrooms is entirely dependent on their scarcity. If
there is much demand in a certain community for a food that is not
plentiful in the market, the price of that food always goes up. As in
the case of mushrooms, many expensive foods add practically nothing in
the way of nourishment, their only value being in the variety of flavor
they supply.
22. Furthermore, in order to provide wisely, the person who purchases
vegetables for the family should be able to judge whether she is getting
full value in food for the money she invests. She cannot always do this
with each particular vegetable purchased, but she can buy in such a way
that what she purchases will average correctly in this respect. The
perishable vegetables should be bought as fresh as possible. No
difficulty will be experienced in determining this, for they will soon
wither or rot if they are not fresh, but the point is to find out their
condition before they are bought. The housewife should be ever on the
alert and should examine carefully the vegetables she buys before they
are accepted from the grocer or taken from the market. In the case of
certain vegetables, it is possible to conceal the fact that they are
stale. For instance, the outside leaves of a head of lettuce or endive
are sometimes removed and only the bleached center is offered for sale;
but this always indicates that the outside leaves were either withered
or spoiled or they would not have been taken off.
23. Much of the spoiling of vegetables can be avoided if proper
attention is given to them in the market. Food of this kind should be so
displayed that it is not exposed to the dirt and dust of the street, nor
to flies and other destructive vermin. The practice of displaying
vegetables on a stand in front of a store is gradually losing favor with
the housewife who understands the sanitary precautions that should be
taken with foods. On the other hand, housewives owe it to the merchant
not to handle the foods they are going to buy, for the handling of them
not only injures them so that they will not keep well, but renders them
unfit to be accepted by the next purchaser.
24. The manner in which vegetables are sold should also receive
consideration. It has been the custom to sell them by measure, but both
housewives and merchants have come to realize that it is fairer to sell
them by weight. Experience has shown that a pound is much more likely to
be always uniform than is a quart or a peck. This is due to the fact
that no two dealers are likely to measure in exactly the same way, even
though the measures they use are up to the standard in size. Then, too,
especially in the case of vegetables that are of various sizes and
shapes, it is impossible to fill a measure properly because of the shape
of the vegetables, and so either the housewife often receives short
measure or the merchant gives more than the measure requires. All
difficulty of this kind is entirely overcome when vegetables
are weighed.