The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-07-14
WASTE OF FOOD.

In the scheme of nature there
seems to be no such thing as an
unmitigated evil. By the laws of
God and of nature good must
eventually triumph over evil, and
sometimes out Of it. So the
present great struggle in Europe
is producing untold benefits in
various ways for the peoples of
the earth. From an American
standpoint one of the benefits re-
sulting from war conditions will
be a realization Of the necessity of
the conservation of our resources,
notably in the matter of food.
It is well known that the Ameri-
can people as whole are the most
extravagant and wasteful among
the civilized nations. The plenti-
full production and supply of food
stuffs with which our country has
been blessed seems to have led i'm
perceptibly to a habit Of careless
ness in the matter of excess. Elk
travagance seems to be a national
fault of America. The govern
ment, realizing this, has appointed
Mr.. Hoover to direct and control
the food situation. This control
is badly needed, since there is no
other country where both rich
and poor needlessly waste so
much food as in America. So
startling has the evil become, and
so threatening on account Of the
war, that prelates and public lead
ers throughout the nation have
sounded the alarm for restraint
According to Mr.. Hoover the waste
in food amounts at least to fifty
dollars year for every family in
America. The waste Of a single
slice of bread each day in every
home means the daily waste of
one million loaves Of bread. The
thousand million dollars of need
less waste which takes place year
ly in the households of America
can and should be stopped. Mr.:
Hoover says that in order to prac-
tice the ways of thrifty living we
need do, little more than return
to the frugal habits of earlier
days.
In the first place, purchase
wisely. This means that the care
full housewife will use discrimina-
ton in buying not the more costly
but the more substantial kinds of
food. She will also, where pos
sible, purchase in quantities, thus
| getting better price; and in the
selection of meats she will avoid
1 the more expensive cuts and re-
Esort to her own ingenuity in order
to prepare the less expensive por-
tions for her household. The care
full housewife will also take care
to lose nothing for lack Of proper
attention. Through this form of
negligence a vast amount of food
is wasted, that with little care
and foresight might have been
preserved for future use. Elk
travagance in serving huge guam
titles Of food is also to be con-
| demned. She should serve no
more than hunger and actual need
demand. Moreover, culinary skill,
even the most ordinary, will
enable her to again serve in a
palatable and wholesome form un-
used portions of food.
Practically speaking, it is re-
markable how some women can set
an excellent table with small re-
sources, and at the same time fur
nish variety and sufficient album
dance Of food; while others.
through lack of knowledge or OF
skill in buying and preparing food
require large financial outlay. Ii
economy were ever needed in ac-
tual practice surely now is the
| time to exercise this domestic
virtue. Extravaganza and spend
thrift methods in food as in other
things may not be identical faults
| but they are closely akin. The
straitened conditions imposed
upon us by the necessities of wal
surely leave no place in the home