The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1912-06-25
AMERICANS HOLD RECORD
AS THE LARGEST EATERS.
Consume More Food of Higher
Quality and Greater Variety
Than Any Others.

iii round flgureS So,UuU ,UUU,UUV
year to feed the American people
an amount just about equal to
the annual value of all the present
products of Uncle Sans $500, 00(
farms. There is no question that
at the present time the average
American eats more food of q
higher quality and greater va.
riety than the citizen of any other
country. There is no question eth.
er that he spends far more for
his food supply than the resident
of any other land, and that the
growth of his food budget has been
far ntore rapid than the increase
in his wages, great rs these have
been in many cases.
For several years the bureau of
labor here collected information
on the expenditure for food in the
homes of over 1000 workmen in
different parts of the country with
incomes of about the average of
their class.
The growing pressure of the cost
OF hFlhg may pc seen IN the steaus
| increase in the outlay oil these
families for food from 1897, when
/ il was trifle less than $500 a
| year, to 1907, the last year for
which statistics were published,
/ when II had advanced to S5t2.
Since 1907 there has been 10
per cent further advance in food
I prices. so that the cost to the
avarage wnrkinpman,g household
81 $50 aIona ~, l. nrasrm.hIv
eA4n An,,,;,, ~, j. +ba
.,is H., A. c,,r
80
u 'VVo'ooo 90 iooo
GET TO Whlch shoula pe doueu sne
surplus outlay OF the ~ per cent
Of the nations households that
spend double this amount IN fur-
nishing their tables which would
give total of slightly over $4,000
100000.
Experts Decrease, Imports Increase
That this estimate is roughly ac-
curate, is shown by the fact that
it approximates so closely the to-
tai value of food supplies produe
ed in the country. While it is
true that 1885,, 100000 worth or
foodstuffs were sold to foreign
nations in 1911, at the same time
1000, 600 was spent for food
supplies brought from abroad, leaV-
ing TO ohcle sam credit only the
Sc p'iaie - PoA,ooo'ooo y
enis seo'e =. 80, -,
oyer "a NOR cent while imnorts
under the same heading have in
craased 20 ner cent IF this move
ment continues at the same rate
as in the past 1t will be only two
years hore before Uncle Sam, who
once proudly boosted of feeding
the world" will have to call upon
other nations to help feed his poo
pie.
While the manner in which the
$500 expended by the FAMILY or
the average American toiler is dis
tr.buted varies greatly in different
parts of the country, 1t is pos
sible to give reasonably accurate
estimates of some of the chief
items contributing to the total.
1t is familiar fact, for exam
pie, that Americans are the great
est meat-eaters of the world. In
great number of American fami-
lies meat forms some part of ev-
cry meal and in even the poorest
homes it appears on the table for
dinner at least whereas a family of
the same relative social stratum
in many European countries would
not expect to eat meat oftener than
once a week. In the course of
year the average American fam
| lily consumes an amount of beef
representing the equivalent of q
yearling steer, and the pork pro-
| ducts of averaged-sized pig, besides
smaller quantities of poultry and
mutton In very few families pro-
| baby does the amount of the an
nua1 meat hill fall below $3.50 In