Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-19
Caused by False Pride.

how.
Caused by False Pride.
Extravaganza is often due to false
pride, carelessness and ignorance. II
can only be cured by intoxicating in the
minds Of the next generation bette,
ideas Of this dignity and the duty OF
thrift. and by the spread Of knowledge
Of the arts and economies of common
life. including information as to the
comparative nutritive value and proper
uses Of food.
How this is to be brought about is
perhaps hard to say. Possibly We may
there are some things which will materi-
ally help and are entirely feasible. The
school, the press and the pulpit can do a
great deal to influence people to learn
wisdom before want compels them. The
school can teach the science, the press
can difuse IL and the clergyman can
urge upon his people their duty in the
matter.
But to secure the spread of informa-
ton about food and nutrition we must
know more about the facts. Our great
difficulty in discussing the subjects is
that the data are lacking and the con-
illusions are too much matter Of in
| ference rather than proof. These sub
jects are being studied actively in Europe,
but in this country almost nothing has
been done. Public attention is. however,
being called to them, and to one who fol-
lows the drift of discussion it is very
encouraging TO see how rapidly the ideas
are prepagated The time is ripe for in
quiry and for the use of its results.
Scientific research, interpreting the OBJ
servations OF PRACTICAL life, implies that
we make q fourfold mistake in our
food economy.
Fourfold Mistake.
First-We purchase needlessly ex-
pensive kinds Of food. We do this under
the false impression that there is some
peculiar virtue in the costlier materials
and that economy In our diet is some.
what detrimental in our dignity or our
welfare. AMI, unfortunately, those who
are most extravagant in this respect are
often the ones who can least afford 1t.
Second The food which we eat does
not always contain the proper proper
lions of the different kinds of nutritive
ingredients. We consume relatively too
as the fats of meat and butter, the
starch which makes up the larger part
Of the nutritfve material of -four and
potatoes and sugar and sweetmeats. Con-
versely. we have relatively too little of
the protein Of fiesh-forming substances,
like the lean Of meat and fish and the
gluten Of wheat, which make muscle and
sinew and which are the basis of blood,
bone and brain.
Third-Many people, not only the we'll
TODD, but those in moderate circum-
stances, use needless quantities of food
Part Of the excess, however. is simply
thrown away with the wastes of the
table and the kitchen, so that the injury
to health, great as it may be, is doubt
less much less than If all were eaten.
Probably the worst sufferers from this
evil are people of sedentary occupations
-brain-workers as distinguished from
hand-workers.
Finally, we are guilty Of serious err
r0rs in our cooking. We waste great
deal Of fuel in the preparation Of our
food, and even then great deal Of the
food is very badly cooked. A reform in
methods Of cooking is one Of the eco
nonlic demands of our time.
Food Chief Item Of Expense.
The cost of food is the principal item
Of the living expenses Of the bulk Of
the people Of the civilized world. Those
who have large incomes can perhaps af-
ford to be wasteful. but to the great
majority of people the waste Of food is a
serious matter. much more so than they
realize Roughly speaking, half the total
earnings of wage-workers in this coun-
try and In Europe is spent for the food
OF themselves and their families.
According to the Investigations Of the
late C6ETOl -. Wright, the NORTHUMBERLAND
in Massachusetts who earned 81 600 a
year expended on the average Of $500
for the food of himself and family, the
man with 500 spent $500 and the man
with $500 $3.50 q year. In Great Britain
and Germany incomes are much smaller,
but the proportions expended for food are
about the same. Later Investigations by
the United States Department Of Labor
Of the cost Of living OF families in the
central. southern and western states.
whore food is cheaper than in New Eng
land and the eastern states, make the
relative expense for food somewhat less
But 1t is safe to say that, In general.
wage-workers use half their money to
buy their food, and those with very
small incomes more than half. This
means simply what they pay the butcher
and the grocer and the milkman. and
does not cover the cost of cooking ex-
Dept when food is purchased ready cook
ed. as in the buying of bread
It seems q little strange that when
food costs 50 much more than clothing,
rent and other necessaries of life, in
deed, as much as all the rest together
people should, know so little about its
real value for nourishment. When an
Intelligent man buys coat he has a
pretty fair idea as to whether 1t fits him
or not. how much wear there Is in It.
and whether he can get an good . at