PROPORTION OF FAMILY INCOME FOR FOOD
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Income Per Cent. of Amount Spent Amount Spent Amount Spent
per Income Spent per year for per Day for per Day per
Year for Food Food Five Persons Person
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$ 600 60 $360 $ .98 $ .19
800 55 500 1.36 .27
1,000 50 576 1.57 .31
1,200 48 576 1.57 .31
1,500 44 660 1.80 .36
1,800 39 702 1.92 .38
2,400 30 720 1.97 .39
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Various conditions greatly affect this proportion. One of these is the
rise and fall of the food cost. Theoretically, the buyer should adjust
this difference in the food cost rather than increase her expenditures.
For instance, if in a certain year, the general cost of food is 20 per
cent. greater than it was in the preceding year, the housewife should
adjust her plan of buying so that for the same amount of money spent in
the previous year she will be able to supply her family with what they
need. Of course, if there is an increase in the income, it will not be
so necessary to work out such an adjustment.
22. ECONOMIES IN PURCHASING FOOD.--Through her study of the preceding
lessons, the student has had an opportunity to learn how to care for
food in order to avoid loss and waste, how to prepare it so that it may
be easily digested and assimilated, and how to make it appetizing and
attractive so that as little as possible is left over and none is
wasted. She should therefore be thoroughly acquainted with the methods
of procedure in regard to all such matters and should have worked out to
her satisfaction the best ways of accomplishing these things to suit her
individual needs. But, in addition to these matters, she must give
strict attention to her food purchases if she would secure for her
family the most wholesome and nourishing foods for the least
expenditure of money.
23. To purchase food that will provide the necessary food value for a
small outlay is possible to a certain extent, but it cannot be done
without the required knowledge. In the first place, it means that fewer
luxuries can be indulged in and that the family dietary will have to be
reduced to necessities. It may also mean that there will probably be a
difference in the quality of the food purchased. For instance, it may be
necessary to practice such economies as buying broken rice at a few
cents a pound less than whole rice or purchasing smaller prunes with a
greater number to the pound at a lower price than the larger, more
desirable ones. The housewife need not hesitate in the least to adopt
such economies as these, for they are undoubtedly the easiest ways in
which to reduce the food expenses without causing detriment to any one.
24. Further economy can be practiced if a little extra attention is
given in the purchase of certain foods. As is well known, the packages
and cans containing food are labeled with the contents and the weight of
the contents. These should be carefully observed, as should also the
number of servings that may be obtained from the package or can. For
instance, the housewife should know the weight per package of the
various kinds of prepared cereals she uses and the number of servings
she is able to procure from each package.
Let it be assumed that she buys two packages of different cereals at
the same time, which, for convenience, may be called package No. 1 and
package No. 2. She finds that No. 1 contains 16 ounces and No. 2, only
12 ounces; so she knows that No. 1 furnishes the greater amount of food
by weight for the money spent. But, on the other hand, No. 2 may go
farther; that is, it may serve a greater number of persons. This, in all
probability, means that the cereals are similar in character, but that
the food value of the servings from No. 2 is greater than that of the
servings from No. 1. No. 2 is therefore the more economical of the two.
Matters of this kind must not be overlooked, especially in the feeding
of children.
Then, too, the housewife should work out carefully which she can use to
greater advantage, prepared or unprepared cereals. If she finds that
unprepared cereals are the more economical and if she can depend on
their food value as being as high as that of the prepared ones, she
should by all means give them the preference. Of course, she may use
prepared cereals for convenience or for varying the diet, but the more
economical ones should be used with greater regularity.
25. Canned goods should be carefully observed. A certain brand of
tomatoes, for instance, may have 16 ounces to the can, whereas another
brand that can be bought for the same price may have 24 ounces. There
may be, however, and there probably is, a great difference in the
quality of the tomatoes. The 24-ounce can may have a much greater
proportion of water than the 16-ounce can, and for this reason will not
serve to the same advantage. As it is with canned tomatoes, so is it
with canned corn, peas, and other canned vegetables, for the price
depends altogether on the quality. Therefore, several brands should be
compared and the one should be purchased which seems to furnish the most
food or the best quality of food for the least money, provided the
quality continues.
26. In the preparation of meat, there is always some waste, and as waste
is a factor that has much to do with the increasing of costs, it should
be taken into consideration each time a piece of meat is purchased. If
there is time for some experimenting, it makes an interesting study to
weigh the meat before and after preparation, for then the amount of
shrinkage in cookery, as well as the waste in bone, skin, and other
inedible material, can be determined.
An actual experiment made with a 4-pound chicken showed that there was
a loss of 2-3/4 pounds; that is, the weight of the edible meat after
deducting the waste was only 1-1/4 pounds. The following shows how this
weight was determined:
POUNDS
Weight of chicken, including head, feet, and entrails 4
Weight of head, feet, and entrails 1-1/4
Weight of bones after cooking 7/8
Weight of skin after cooking 1/4
Shrinkage in cooking 3/8
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Total amount of waste 2-3/4
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Actual weight of edible meat 1-1/4
It will readily be seen that chicken at 40 cents a pound would make the
cost per pound of edible meat amount to exactly $1.28, a rather
startling result. It is true, of course, that the busy housewife with a
family can hardly spare the time for the extra labor such experiments
require; still the greater the number of persons to be fed, the more
essential is the need for economy and the greater are the possibilities
for waste and loss.
27. The home production of foods does not belong strictly to economical
buying, still it is a matter that offers so many advantages to the
economical housewife that she cannot afford to overlook it. A small
garden carefully prepared and well cultivated will often produce the
summer's supply of fresh vegetables, with sufficient overproduction to
permit much to be canned for winter. Not only do foods produced in a
home garden keep down the cost of both summer and winter foods, but they
add considerably to the variety of menus.
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