Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-02-01
Home Course
I'm Domestic
Science
iii. Cost of Food In
Moderate Homes.
BY EDITH G. CHARLTON,
In Charge of Domestic Economy, Iowa
State College.
Copyright. 1870. by American Press
Association.

IT L was Ruskin who said, "Sure good
b is first in feeding people, then in
n dressing people, then in lodging
people and last in rightly pleasing
people with arts or science or any 9TH
er subject Of thought"
If Ruskin is right, and we know he
is, then it behooves all those who are
interested in homemaking and house
keeping to see to it that their duty Is
well performed; that the results of
their labor are not only bringing good
to people. but also making good people.
This means improving their physical
conditions, training them to higher
ideals and truer standards Of living.
| The standard of life will determine
the character of the home, and when
ever homes and family life are not
what civilization and Christianity
| teach they should be the cause will
Invariably be found to be wrong stand
ards.
The cost Of living depends on the
ideas and standards Of the persons
spending the money, or else it depends
on the total disregard for them. The
| question of how much our living
shall cost is more of education than of
| location, so a scale of expenditures
cannot be given that will be suitable
in every particular to any locality.
Local conditions must be taken into
consideration to some extent, though
| it is generally found that large expend-
| iture in one department of housekeep-
| ing can be readily balanced by various
economies in another.
Any woman who has a right stard-
ard of life will not be satisfied to spend
! all the income for physical needs. She
! will want balance for those things
which are termed higher life, educa-
| ton and all those advantages which
| develop the mental and moral side of
| the family. 1t has been repeatedly
| proved that when the family income
| is adjusted so as to leave at least %
per cent Of it for matters not connect
ed with material living there Is con-
tentment in the family circle and. a
desire among the individual members
to reach the highest attachments Of
true manhood and womanhood. 1t is
not my purpose in this article to at
! tempt to do more than show what pro-
| portion of the income should be re-
served for food and how that amount
can be spent in order to keep within
the margin and to satisfy the physical
needs of the family.
1t has been said that one-half the
cost of living is the cost Of food, and
| it has been shown over and over again
that it is not the food actually eaten
which costs SO excessively as it is
what is wasted by poor cooking, pre-
| pairing too large quantities and buying
out of season.
Meals at 1S Cents Day.
An income of from $1,000 to $500
should allow no more than 10 to Is
cents day for each person for food
or not more than % per cent of the
total incomes. To feed family OF
FIVE persons on 30 cents a day, or Is
cents each, requires thought and con-
siderable planning on the part of the
housekeeper But on that amount il
is possible to provide good nourishing
meals every day and in amount suff.
cient for all the needs of the body
This is not mere theoretical state.
ment, for in many homes in this coun
try less than 81 day is being spent
on the table.
To buy wisely on a small margin
requires some knowledge Of food val
ues, because it is necessary to have
the daily meals represent a giver
amount of proteid, fat, sugar and
starch, mineral matter and water
These food constituents must be pro
vided every day K the body is to be
kept in normal condition.
AMOUNT FOOD MATERIAL THAT WILL
FURNISH REQUIRED NOURISHMEN1
FOR ONE DAY FOR MAN AT A AVERAGE
/ WORK.