The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1916-08-18
THRIFT 7 TALK,
OUR CRIMINAL
WASTE Of FOOD
TIE WASTE OF LITTLE THINGS
IN THE AGGREGATE MORE
COSTLY THAN THAT OF ANY
WAR.

When a calamity such as the San
Francisco earthquake, the Dayton
flood of the sinking Of the Titanic
occugs,' the world stands aghast at
the frightful waste OF life and prop
erty as measured in dollars and cents,
and the whole world pays the penalty.
But these happenings cannot be
ayerted They are costly but infre-
,quent-part OF the price Of the mod
ern civilization, and constitute but a
small fraction of the waste cost Of
the world.
We wouldn't burn a forest know
/ ingly but we would ourn the lumber
| that comes out of it. Nations do not
waste their big things willingly. On
! ly a great war can ever bring nation
to the point of destroying life and
property recklessIy, IS part of the
game. But there is a waste that is
going on constantly that is more cost
! ~ even than war, as costly as war
may be; for war accomplishes some
thing at least it settles a quarrel.
| The waste we refer to is the waste
of little things, for ,nese in the ag
gregate prove as costly, although less
noticeable than the waste of larger
ones.
While the indulgences, such as
drinking, smoking, candy and sodas
are not particularly waste, they are
not profitable expenditures. They get
lus nowhere, and do no particular
good But even passing these as per
missible, the most ineXcusible waste
is in the line of food 1t is not what
comes in the front door, particularly,
that counts, but what goes out of the
kitchen.
The total cost or food in this
country cannot be even approXima-
ted but eminent authorities place a
dollar day as a fair average for the
food value of the American people
This means a cost of about 5000
600, 900 each year so eminent an au-
thority as Doctor Wiley estimates
that at least one-quarter OF this is
wasted And this is entirely possible
Notice as you dine at restaurants how
much untouched food goes back to
the ktchen-lOt to feed some poorer
mortal, but to 20 out in the garbage.
1t seems so perfectly natural for some
people to merely play with a dinner,
sending choce cut Of meats and fow
els back to tie garbage can. We
waste more than we eat. If the Doc
tor is right, this means a food waste
of $1,000, 100000 a year and the pity
is it does no one any good-not even
the pigs, for they would thrive better
on a less costly diet. One large
country hotel a few years ago lost
most of its herd of 800 hogs from
feeding "swell swill.' This food, if
conserved, would feed all the poor
II would build ten batt,esLips. It
would buy all the land in some states.
1t would pay off the national debt in
2 single year. l. would run the gov
ernmcnt for twelve months.
The waste of money cures itself,
for soon there is no more to waste
There comes a time when the bank
runs dry and the easy money flows
no more But this frightful waste Of
food can go on year IN and year out,
and yet we wonder why living costs
so high.
1t takes four years 20 raise a por-
Itorhouse steak, aud to send half of it
back to the kitchen is an economic
crime. II you waste a forest, soon
the last tree will be cut. II you waste
land it will soon be barren. If you
waste time. you will never succeed
II you waste money, you will soon
have no more to waste. but you can
keep on wasting food until YOU eat
no more and wonder why you are
poor Better take inventory of what
goes out in the garbage bucket and
see .how much YOU contribute to
wards this euoromus sum, so big in
its proportions that We fail to grasp